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Presented  to 

THE  LIBRARY 

of 

VICTORIA  UNIVERSITY 

Toronto 

by 

Professor  Millar  Maclure 


THE  LOEB  CLASSICAL  LIBRARY 

FOUNDED    BY  JAMES   LOEB,   LL.D. 

EDITED  BY 
tT.  E.   PAGE,  C.H.,  LITT.D. 

fE.  CAPPS,  PH.D.,  LL.D.  fW.  H.  D.  ROUSE,  litt.d. 

L.  A.  POST,  L.H.D.     E.  H.  WARMINGTON,  m.a.,  f.r.hist.soc. 


LUCAN 


LUCAN 

WITH  AN  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION   BY 
J.   D.   DUFF,   M.A. 

FELLOW   OF  TRINITY   COLLEGE,    CAMBRIDGE 


THE  CIVIL  WAR 
Books  I— X 

(PHARSALIA) 


LONDON 

WILLIAM   HEINEMANN   LTD 

CAMBRIDGE,  MASSACHUSETTS 

HARVARD    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 

MOMLXII 


PA 

6 


78 


ls9!28^. 


First  printed  1928 
Reprinted  1943,  1951,  1957,  19S2 


QT 


Frintfd  in  Great  Britain 


CONTENTS 


PAOR 

PREFACE -  vii 

INTRODUCTIOx^ ix 

THE  CIVIL  WAR- 
BOOK  1     ....... 1 

BOOK    II 55 

BOOK   III 113 

BOOK   IV , 173 

BOOK  V 237 

BOOK  VI 303 

BOOK  vn 367 

BOOK  VIII 435 

BOOK  IX    ...     , 503 

BOOK  X 589 

INDEX 633 


PREFACE 

Scholars  are  aware  that  tlie  text  and  interpreta- 
tion of  Lucan  have  been  greatly  changed  for  the 
better  by  the  edition  of  Professor  A.  E.  Housman 
(Blackwell,  1926).  By  Mr.  Housman's  kind  per- 
mission, his  text  has  been  reprinted  here,  with  few 
and  unimportant  deviations.  The  critical  notes 
below  the  text  have  only  one  object — to  warn  the 
reader  where  the  words  in  the  text  have  no  manu- 
script authority  and  depend  solely  on  conjecture. 
Those  who  desire  an  apparatus  criticus  must  seek 
it  in  the  editions  of  Dr.  Hosius  (Teubner,  1913) 
and  Mr.  Housman. 

The  translator  is  also  deeply  indebted  to  Mr. 
Housman's  commentary  and  to  his  lectures  on 
Lucan  delivered  at  Cambridge  in  ten  successive 
years.  Many  apt  renderings  were  taken  down  in 
his  lecture-room,  and  many  convincing  solutions  of 
difficulties  were  there  propounded.  In  particular, 
the  interpretation  of  the  astronomical  problems 
depends  entirely  upon  Mr.   Housman. 

The  translation  does  not  profess  to  be  a  literal 
version    of    the    original.      Lucan's    manner   of    ex-| 
pression  is  so  artificial    that    such  a  version  would  \> 
be    unintelligible   to   an    English   reader,  unless    it 
were  supplemented  by  copious  notes ;   and  it  is  a 
rule   of  this   series    that   notes  shall   be,  as  far  as 

vii 


PREFACE 

possible,  suppressed.  The  translator's  object  has 
been  to  reproduce  Lucan's  meaning  in  English  that 
can  be  understood,  keeping  close  to  the  Latin  text 
when  possible,  but  deviating  from  it  when  a  literal 
rendering  would  puzzle  and  mislead.  Some  notes 
explanatory  of  the  translation  are  indispensable ; 
but  these  have  been  added  sparingly,  and  none  of 
them  are  long. 

One  feature  of  the  translation  may  be  worth 
notice  here.  All  Latin  poets  make  free  use  of 
apostrophe,  more  than  is  common  in  Greek  or 
English,  and  Lucan  uses  it  more  freely  than  any 
of  them.  In  this  translation  the  apostrophe  is,  in 
general,  suppressed  and  the  sentence  turned  in  a 
different  way ;  the  figure  is  reserved  for  the  more 
important  occasions.  In  Latin  apostrophe  is  often 
a  metrical  device,  and  often  a  meaningless  conven- 
tion. There  are  indeed  in  Lucan  many  passages 
where  it  adds  to  the  rhetorical  effect.  Yet  even  here 
I  believe  that  more  is  gained  than  lost,  if  it  is 
generally  ignored  in  the  translation.  The  com- 
bination of  apostrophe  and  plain  statement,  common 
in  Lucan,  is  hardly  endurable  in  English ;  and  also 
the  reader  is  puzzled  and  confused  when  Lucan 
addresses  his  rhetorical  appeal  to  two  or  three 
different  persons  or  places  in  the  same  paragraph. 

Mr.  P.  W.  Duff,  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, gave  me  much  valuable  help  in  preparing  the 
book  for  publication. 


vni 


.s'H'' 


^ 


INTRODUCTION 

1.   Liican's  Life 

The  few  facts  that  are  known  of  Lucan's  perf;onal 
history  are  derived  chiefly  from  two  ancient  Lives 
prefixed  to  some  of  his  manuscripts.  One  of  these,\ 
which  is  mutilated^  is  attributed  to  Suetonius,  and 
the  other  to  Vacca,  a  grammarian  probably  of  the 
sixth  century.  The  circumstances  that  led  to  his 
death,  and  his  death  itself,  are  related  at  length 
by  Tacitus  in  his  Annals  (xv.  cc.  48-70). 

Marcus  Annaeus  Lucanus  was  born  at  Corduba 
(now  Cordova)  in  Spain  on  November  3,  a.d.  39, 
was  taken  to  Rome  when  he  was  seven  months  old, 
and  died  at  Rome  on  April  30,  a.d.  65.  He  was 
therefore  in  his  twenty-sixth  year  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  Hardly  any  other  event  of  his  life  can 
be  assigned  to  a  fixed  date. 

Though  his  family  was  of  provincial  origin  and 
not  noble  in  the  Roman  sense  of  the  word,  because 
no  member  of  it  had  held  the  magistracies  at  Rome, 
yet  Lucan  enjoyed  every  advantage  that  wealth  and 
connexion  could  give.  His  father,  M  Annaeus 
Mela,  was  never  a  senator ;  but  his  uncle,  Lucius 
Annaeus  Seneca,  became  the  most  famous  man  of 
his  time.  First  governor  and  then  minister  of  the 
Emperor  Nero,  he  held  the  office  of  consul  a.d.  56; 
he  was  the  most  powerful  and  the  richest  subject  of 

ix 


INTRODUCTION 

the  empire ;  and  he  was  also  the  most  prolific  and 
popular  writer  of  his  day.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Lucan  was  reared  under  the  eye  of  his  uncle,  whose 
only  son  died  in  childhood. 

The  boy  received  from  the  most  eminent  teachers 
the  education  then  given  to  youths  of  the  governing 
/  class  at   Rome.     This  education  was  directed  to  a 

c*  M  single  object — the  acquisition  of  rhetorical  skill ;  it 
began  with  the  study  of  literature  and  was  com- 
pleted in  the  school  of  the  rhetor  or  professor  of 
rhetoric.  We  are  told  that  Lucan  from  the  first 
showed  astonishing  ability  and  proved  himself 
superior  to  all  his  fellow-students  and  not  inferior 
to  his  instructors  themselves.  He  was  taught  the 
Stoic  philosophy  by  Cornutus,  who  had  among  his 
pupils  at  the  same  time  another  poet,  the  satirist 
Persius.  There  are  frequent  echoes  of  Stoic  dogma 
in  Lucan's  work,  and  the  whole  of  it  is  pervaded — 
one  might  almost  say,  poisoned — by  the  rhetoric  of 
the  schools.  He  began  to  write  very  early  and 
published  works  both  in  prose  and  poetry.  He 
married  at  a  date  unknown  Polla  Argent-aria,  who 
combined  every  possible  attraction  —  youth  and 
beauty,  wealth,  virtue,  and  intellect.^ 

For  a  time  he  was  in  high  favour  with  Nero.  The 
young  emperor,  who  wao  two  years  older  than  Lucan, 
took  an  interest  in  literature  and  sought  fame,  not 
only  as  a  musician  but  also  as  a  poet.  At  the 
Nerojiia,  a  festival  held  in  Nero's  honour,  Lucan 
delivered  a  speech  in  praise  of  the  emperor.  We 
are  told  that  he  was  recalled  from  Athens,  where 
he  was  probably  residing  for  the  purpose  of  study, 
and  received  two  marks  of  imperial  favour ;  he  was 

*  Statius,  Siluae,  ii.  7,  81-88. 


INTRODUCTION 

appointed  quaestor,  though  he  had  not  reached  the 
legal  age  for  holding  that  office ;  and  he  was  also 
nominated  a  member  of  the  college  of  augurs. 

But  these  friendly  relations  did  not  last  long. 
It  appears  that  Nero  became  jealous  of  Lucan's 
growing  reputation :  the  young  and  ambitious  poet 
was  forbidden  to  publish  his  writings  or  even  to 
recite  them  to  his  friends.  Stung  by  resentment, 
Lucan  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in  a  con- 
spiracy which  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
throning Nero  and  putting  him  to  death.  The 
conspiracy  was  discovered  and  the  conspirators  were 
arrested,  Lucan's  courage  failed  him  in  the  hour 
of  peril,  and  he  tried  to  save  his  life  by  incriminating 
others,  among  whom  was  his  own  mother,  Acilia. 
But  this  baseness  availed  him  nothing  :  he  was 
forced  to  die,  but  permitted  to  choose  the  manner 
of  his  death.  He  chose  a  method  of  suicide  which 
was  common  at  the  time :  he  had  his  veins  opened 
in  a  warm  bath  and,  as  he  was  dying,  repeated  some 
verses  of  his  own  which  described  the  death  of  a 
soldier  from  loss  of  blood. 

His  family  was  involved  in  his  ruin :  his  father 
and  his  uncles,  Seneca  and  Gallio,  were  forced  to 
end  their  own  lives.  His  widow,  Polla  Argentaria, 
survived  her  husband  many  years  and  continued  to 
celebrate  each  anniversary  of  his  birth.^  It  is 
evident  that  he  left  no  child  to  bear  his  name. 

2.  Lucan  s  Poem 

Though  Lucan  wrote  much  during  his  short  life, 
only  one  work  has  survived,  but  this  was  held  to  be 

1  The  poem  of  Statius  (Siluae,  ii.  7)  was  written  for  one 
of  these  anniversaries  ;  see  also  Martial  vii.  21  and  23. 

xi 


INTTRODUCTION 

his  masterpiece.  It  is  an  epic  poem  in  ten  hooks, 
describing  the  contest  between  Caesar  and  the 
Senate.  The  work  was  still  unfinished  when  the 
author  died.  For  the  narrative  breaks  off  abruptly, 
and  it  is  also  significant  that  the  last  book  is  much 
shorter  than  any  of  the  others.  It  is  tolerably  clear 
that  Lucan  meant  to  end  the  story  with  Caesar's 
murder  in  March  44  b.c.  ;  but  it  now  ends  in  the 
middle  of  Caesar's  military  operations  at  Alexandria 
in  the  winter  of  48-47.  We  are  told  that  Lucan 
revised  only  the  first  three  books  and  that  the  last 
seven  were  published  after  his  death  ;  but  this  could 
not  have  been  inferred  from  the  evidence  of  the 
books  themselves. 

The  poem  used  to  be  called  "  The  Pharsalia/'  and 
the  title  is  convenient.  But  it  is  not  appropriate, 
because  it  applies  only  to  the  events  of  one  book, 
the  seventh.  Nur  has  it  ancient  authority:  the  title 
given  in  the  manuscripts  is  De  Bello  Civili,  "  Con- 
cerning the  Civil  War."  The  mistake  probably 
arose  from  the  words  Pharsalia  nostra  (ix.  985), 
which  were  wrongly  ^  interpreted  as  "  my  poem,  the 
Pharsalia." 

No  reasonable  judgment  can  rank  Lucan  among 
the  world's  great  epic  poets.  He  does  not  tell  his 
story  well :  the  successive  episodes  are  neither 
skilfully  connected  nor  well  proportioned.  His 
frequent  digressions  are  often  irrelevant  and  much 
too  long.  His  geographical  descriptions  are  obscure 
and  wearisome.  His  account  of  military  operations 
is  hard  to  follow :  he  is  concise  where  detail  is 
needed  and  dwells  at  length  on  trivial  or  irrelevant 
matters.      To   him   the   narrative    is   of  secondary 

^  See  note  on  this  line. 
xii 


INTRODUCTION 

importance:  his  interest  lies  elsewhere;  the  words 
said  matter  more  in  his  view  than  the  things  done. 
His  power  and  force  are  undeniable ;  but  he  lacks 
the  chief  gifts  that  a  great  epic  poet  must  possess. 

He  ventured  on  one  innovation  which  seemed 
bold  to  his  contemporaries.  He  discarded  all  that  | 
supernatural  machinery  which  Virgil  had  taken  over  \ 
from  Homer.  The  gods  play  no  part  in  the  action  ; 
Venus  never  comes  down  from  Olympus  to  protect 
Caesar,  her  descendant.  The  later  epic  poets  did 
not  follow  Lucan's  example  in  this  matter ;  but 
there  is  no  doubt  that  he  was  right.  He  was  deal- 
ing with  Roman  history  and  with  fairly  recent 
events  ;  and  the  introduction  of  the  gods  as  actors 
must  have  been  grotesque. 

Quintilian  in  his  short  notice  of  Lucan  sums  up 
his  merits  adequately  :  "  Lucan's  poem  is  full  of  fire 
and  energy  and  famous  for  epigram  ;  and,  to  speak 
my  mind,  he  is  a  safer  model  for  the  orator  than  for 
the  poet."  ^  The  truth  is,  that  Lucan  is  not  a  poet 
in  the  sense  in  which  Lucretius  and  Virgil  are  poets  ; 
he  is  read,  not  for  any  poetical  quality  but  for  his 
rhetorical  invective  and  his  pungent  epigrams.  His 
diction  and  rhythm  are  monotonous  :  he  makes  no 
attempt  to  imitate  the  elaborate  harmonies  of 
Virgil.  It  appears  that  his  purpose  is  less  to  charm 
his  readers  than  to  startle  them  and  maketheir  flesh 
creep ;  and  with  this  object  he  has  constant  recourse 
to  extravagant  exaggeration  or  repulsive  detail. 
Whether  he  would  have  written  better  if  he  had 
lived  longer  we  cannot  tell ;  but,  for  all  his  faults, 

^  Quint.  Inst,  Or.  x.  1.  90:  Lucanua  ardens  et  concitatus  et 
sentenliis  claHssimns,  et,  ut  dicarn  quod  sentio,  magis  oraiorihus 
quam  poetis  tmttavdits. 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

he  won  a  high  reputation  among  his  own  country- 
men ;  and  Statins  and  Martial,  writing  long  after  his 
death,  do  not  scruple  to  name  him  as  the  writer  of 
Latin  epic  poetry  who  comes  nearest  to  Virgil. 

In  modern  times  also  great  writers  have  admired 
Lucan's  poem.  Shelley  actually  preferred  Lucan  to 
Virgil  and  immortalised  his  name  in  the  Adonais. 
Macaulay  read  the  poem  through  repeatedly,  and 
recorded  his  opinion  as  follows  at  the  end  of  the 
volume  on  August  30,  1835. 

^'  When  Lucan's  age  is  considered,  it  is  impossible 
not  to  allow  that  the  poem  is  a  very  extraordinary 
one,  more  extraordinary,  perhaps,  than  if  it  had  been 
of  a  higher  kind  ;  for  it  is  more  common  for  the 
imagination  to  be  in  full  vigour  at  an  early  time  of 
life  than  for  a  young  man  to  obtain  a  complete 
mastery  of  political  and  philosophical  rhetoric,  I 
know  no  declamation  in  the  world,  not  even  Cicero's 
best,  which  equals  some  passages  in  the  Pharsalia,^ 
As  to  what  were  meant  for  bold  poetical  flights — the 
sea-fight  at  Marseilles,  the  centurion  who  is  covered 
with  wounds,  the  snakes  in  the  Libyan  desert  ^ — it 
is  all  as  detestable  as  Cibber's  Birthday  Odes.  The 
furious  partiality  of  Lucan  takes  away  much  of  the 
pleasure  which  his  talents  would  otherwise  afford. 
A  poet  who  is,  as  has  often  been  said,  less  a  poet 
than  a  historian,  should  to  a  certain  degree  conform 
to  the  laws  of  history.  The  manner  in  which  he 
represents  the  two  parties  is  not  to  be  reconciled 
with   the  laws    even  of  fiction.     The  senators   are 

^  Macaulay  elsewhere  picks  out  as  specially  eloquent  the 
enumeration  of  Pompey's  exploits  (viii.  806-822)  and  Cato's 
character  of  Pompey  (ix.  190-203). 

2  iii,  583  foil. ;  iv.  138-262 ;  ix.  700-889. 

XIV 


INTRODUCTION 

demigods ;  Pompey,  a  pure  lover  of  his  country ; 
Cato,  the  abstract  idea  of  virtue ;  while  Caesar,  the 
finest  gentleman,  the  most  humane  conqueror,  and 
the  most  popular  politician  that  Rome  ever  produced, 
is  a  bloodthirsty  ogre.  If  Lucan  had  lived,  he 
would  probably  liave  improved  greatly." 


I 


XV 


r 


LUCAN'S 

CIVIL   WAR 

BOOK   I 


M.    ANNAEI    LUCANI 
DE   BELLO   CIVILI 

LIBER   PRIMUS 

Bella  per  Emathios  plus  quam  civilia  campos, 

lusque  datum  seel eri  canimus^  populumque  potentem 

In  sua  victrici  conversum  viscera  dextra, 

Cognatasque  acies,  et  rupto  foedere  regni 

Certatum  totis  eoncussi  viribus  orbis  6 

In  commune  nefas,  infestisque  obvia  signis 

Signa,  pares  aquilas  et  pila  minantia  pilis. 

Quis  furor^  o  cives,  quae  tanta  licentia  ferri  ? 
Gentibus  invisis  Latium  praebere  cruorem, 
Cumque  superba  foret  Babylon  spolianda  tropaeis         10 
Ausoniis  umbraque  erraret  Crassus  inulta, 
Bella  geri  placuit  nullos  habitura  triumphos  ? 
Heu,  quantum  terrae  potuit  pelagique  parari 
Hoc  quem  civiles  hauserunt  sanguine  dextrae, 
Unde  venit  Titan,  et  nox  ubi  sidera  condit,  15 

Quaque  dies  medius' flagrantibus  aestuat  auris,^ 

*  auris  Oudendorp  :  horis  MS8. 

*  Because  Pompey  and  Caesar  were  not  merely  fellow-citizens 
but  kinsmen. 

*  Emathia  is  used  freely  by  Lucan  as  a  synonym  for  either 
Thessaly  or  Pharsalia, 


LUCAN 
THE   CIVIL  WAR 

BOOK   I 

Of  war  I  sing,  war  worse  than  civil,^  waged  over 
the  plains  of  Emathia,^  and  of  legality  conferred  on 
crime ;  I  tell  how  an  imperial  people  turned  their 
victorious  right  hands  against  their  own  vitals  ;  how 
kindred  fought  against  kindred ;  how,  when  the 
compact  of  tyranny  ^  was  shattered,  all  the  forces  of 
the  shaken  world  contended  to  make  mankind 
guilty;  how  standards  confronted  hostile  standards, 
eagles  were  matched  against  each  other,  and  pilum  * 
threatened  pilum. 

What  madness  was  this,  my  countrymen,  what 
fierce  orgy  of  slaughter  ?  While  the  ghost  of  Crassus 
still  wandered  unavenged,  and  it  was  your  duty  to 
rob  proud  Babylon  ^  of  her  trophies  over  Italy,  did  you 
choose  to  give  to  hated  nations  the  spectacle  of 
Roman  bloodshed,  and  to  wage  wars  that  could  win 
no  triumphs  ?  Ah  !  with  that  blood  shed  by  Roman 
hands  how  much  of  earth  and  sea  might  have  been 
bought — where  the  sun  rises  and  where  night  hides 

'  The  First  Triumvirate,  formed  by  Pompey,  Caesar,  and 
Crassus  in  60  B.C. 

*  The  javelin  of  the  Roman  legionary. 

*  Babylon  is  used  here  as  a  synonym  for  Parthia  :  the 
real  capital  was  Ctesiphon. 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  qua  bruma  rigens  ac  nescia  vere  remitti 

Astringit  Scythico  glacialem  frigore  pontum  ! 

Sub  iuga  iam  Seres,  iam  barbarus  isset  Araxes, 

Et  gens  si  qua  iacet  nascenti  conscia  Nilo.  20 

Turn,  si  tantus  amor  belli  tibi,  Roma,  nefandi, 

Totum  sub  Latias  leges  cum  miseris  orbem. 

In  te  verte  manus  ;  nondum  tibi  defuit  hostis. 

At  nunc  semirutis  pendent  quod  moenia  tectis 

Urbibus  Italiae  lapsisque  ingentia  muris  26 

Saxa  iacent  nulloque  domus  custode  tenentur 

Rarus  et  antiquis  habitator  in  urbibus  errat, 

Horrida  quod  dumis  multosque  inarata  per  annos 

Hesperia  est  desuntque  manus  poscentibus  arvis, 

Non  tu,  Pyrrhe  ferox,  nee  tantis  cladibus  auctor  30 

Poenus  erit ;  nulli  penitus  descendere  ferro 

Contigit :  alta  sedent  civilis  volnera  dextrae. 

Quod  si  non  aliam  venturo  fata  Neroni 
Invenere  viam  magnoque  aeterna  parantur 
Regna  deis  cael unique  suo  servire  Tonanti  35 

Non  nisi  saevorum  potuit  post  bella  gigantum, 
Iam  nihil,  o  superi,  querimur  ;  scelera  ista  nefasque 
Hac  mercede  placent ;  diros  Pharsalia  campos 
Inpleat  et  Poeni  saturentur  sanguine  manes  ; 
Ultima  funesta  concurrant  proelia  Munda  ;  40 

His,  Caesar,  Perusina  fames  Mutinaeque  labores 
Accedant  fatis  et  quas  premit  aspera  classes 
Leucas  et  ardenti  servilia  bella  sub  Aetna : 

1  The  Euxine  or  Black  Sea.  *  Hannibal. 

3  At  Thapsus.  *  The  battle  of  Actiura  is  meant. 

4 


BOOK   I 

the  stars,  where  the  South  is  parched  with  burning 
airs,  and  where  the  rigour  of  winter  tliat  no  spring 
can  thaw  binds  the  Scythian  sea  ^  with  icy  cold  !  Ere 
this  the  Chinese  might  have  passed  under  our  yoke, 
and  the  savage  Araxes,  and  any  nation  that  knows 
the  secret  of  Nile's  cradle.  If  Rome  has  such  a  lust 
for  unlawful  warfare,  let  her  first  subdue  the  whole 
earth  to  her  sway  and  then  commit  self-slaughter  ;  so 
far  she  has  never  lacked  a  foreign  foe.  But,  if  now  in 
Italian  cities  the  houses  are  half-demolished  and  the 
walls  tottering,  and  the  miglity  stones  of  mouldering 
dwellings  cumber  the  ground  ;  if  the  houses  are 
secured  by  the  presence  of  no  guard,  and  a  mere 
handful  of  inhabitants  wander  over  the  site  of 
ancient  cities  ;  if  Italy  bristles  with  thorn-brakes, 
and  her  soil  lies  unploughed  year  after  year,  and  the 
fields  call  in  vain  for  hands  to  till  them, — these 
great  disasters  are  not  due  to  proud  Pyrrhus  or  the 
Carthaginian  ^ ;  no  other  sword  has  been  able  to 
pierce  so  deep ;  the  strokes  of  a  kindred  hand  are 
driven  home. 

Still,  if  Fate  could  find  no  other  way  for  the 
advent  of  Nero  ;  if  an  everlasting  kingdom  costs 
the  gods  dear  and  heaven  could  not  be  ruled  by  its 
sovran,  the  Thunderer,  before  the  battle  with  the 
fierce  Giants, — then  we  complain  no  more  against 
the  gods  :  even  such  crimes  and  such  guilt  are  not 
too  high  a  price  to  pay.  Let  Pharsalia  heap  her 
awful  plains  with  dead  ;  let  the  shade  of  the  Cartha- 
ginian 2  be  glutted  with  carnage ;  ^  let  the  last 
battle  be  joined  at  fatal  Munda;  and  though  to 
these  be  added  the  famine  of  Perusia  and  the  horrors 
of  Mutina,  the  ships  overwhelmed  near  stormy 
Leucas^   and   the  war  against  slaves  hard  by  the 


M.    ANNAF.US   LUCANUS 

Multum  Roma  tamen  debet  civilibus  armis, 

Quod  tibi  res  acta  est.     Te,  cum  statione  peracta        46 

Astra  petes  serus,  praelati  regia  caeli 

Excipiet  gaudente  polo  ;  seu  sceptra  tenere, 

Seu  te  flammigeros  Phoebi  conscendere  currus, 

Telluremque  nihil  mutato  sole  timentem 

Igne  vago  lustrare  iuvet,  tibi  numine  ab  omni  60 

Cedetur,  iurisque  tui  natura  relinquet, 

Quis  deus  esse  velis,  ubi  regnum  ponere  mundi. 

Sed  neque  in  arctoo  sedem  tibi  legeris  orbe, 

Nee  polus  aversi  calidus  qua  vergitur  austri, 

Unde  tuam  videas  obliquo  sidere  Romam.  65 

Aetheris  inmensi  partem  si  presseris  unam, 

Sentiet  axis  onus.     Librati  pondera  caeli 

Orbe  tene  medio ;  pars  aetheris  ilia  sereni 

Tota  vacet,  nullaeque  obstent  a  Caesare  nubes. 

Tum  genus  humanum  positis  sibi  consulat  armis,  60 

Inque  vicem  gens  omnis  amet ;  pax  missa  per  orbem 

Ferrea  belligeri  conpescat  limina  lani. 

Sed  mihi  iam  numen  ;  nee,  si  te  pectore  vates 

Accipio,  Cirrhaea  velim  secreta  moventem 

Sollicitare  deum  Bacchumque  avertere  Nysa :  65 

Tu  satis  ad  vires  Romana  in  carmina  dandas. 

Pert  animus  causas  tantarum  expromere  rerum, 
Inmensumque  aperitur  opus,  quid  in  arma  furentem 
Inpulerit  populum,  quid  pacem  excusserit  orbi. 
Invida  fatorum  series  summisque  negatum  70 

1  Weight    is    a    regular    attribute    of   divinity    in    ancient 
mythology. 

6 


BOOK   I 

flames  of  Etna,  yet  Rome  owes  much  to  civil  war, 
because  what  was  done  was  done  for  you,  Caesar. 
When  your  watch  on  earth  is  over  and  you  seek  the 
stars  at  last,  the  celestial  palace  you  prefer  will 
welcome  you,  and  the  sky  will  be  glad.  Whether 
you  choose  to  wield  Jove's  sceptre,  or  to  mount  the 
fiery  chariot  of  Phoebus  and  circle  earth  with  your 
moving  flame — earth  unterrified  by  the  transference 
of  the  sun  ;  every  god  will  give  place  to  you,  and 
Nature  will  leave  it  to  you  to  determine  what  deity 
you  wish  to  be,  and  where  to  establish  your  universal 
throne.  But  choose  not  your  seat  either  in  the 
Northern  region  or  where  the  sultry  sky  of  the 
opposing  South  sinks  down :  from  these  quarters 
your  light  would  look  aslant  at  your  city  of  Rome. 
If  you  lean  on  any  one  part  of  boundless  space,  the 
axle  of  the  sphere  will  be  weighed  down  ^  ;  maintain 
therefore  the  equipoise  of  heaven  by  remaining  at  the 
centre  of  the  system.  May  that  region  of  the  sky 
be  bright  and  clear,  and  may  no  clouds  obstruct  our 
view  of  Caesar !  In  that  day  let  mankind  lay  down 
their  arms  and  seek  their  own  welfare,  and  let  all 
nations  love  one  another;  let  Peace  fly  over  the 
earth  and  shut  ftist  the  iron  gates  of  warlike  Janus. 
But  to  me  you  are  divine  already  ;  and  if  my  breast 
receives  you  to  inspire  my  verse,  I  would  not  care  to 
trouble  the  god  who  rules  mysterious  Delphi,  or  to 
summon  Bacchus  from  Nysa :  you  alone  are  sufficient 
to  give  strength  to  a  Roman  bard. 

My  mind  moves  me  to  set  forth  the  causes  of 
these  great  events.  Huge  is  the  task  that  opens 
before  me — to  show  what  cause  drove  peace  from 
earth  and  forced  a  frenzied  nation  to  take  up  arms. 
It  was  the  chain  of  jealous  fate,  and  the  speedy 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Stare  diu  nimioque  graves  sub  pondere  lapsus 

Nee  se  Roma  ferens.     Sic,  cum  conpage  solnta 

Saecula  tot  muiidi  suprema  coegerit  hora, 

Antiquum  repetens  iterum  chaos,  [omnia  ^  mixtis 

Sidera  sideribus  concurrent]  ignea  pontum  7j 

Astra  petent,  tellus  extendere  littora  nolet 

Excutietque  fretum,  fratri  contraria  Phoebe 

Ibit  et  obliquum  bigas  agitare  per  orbem 

Indignata  diem  poscet  sibi,  totaque  discors 

Machina  divolsi  turbabit  foedera  mundi.  80 

In  se  magna  ruunt :  laetis  hunc  numina  rebus 

Crescendi  posuere  modum.     Nee  gentibus  ullis 

Commodat  in  populum  terrae  pelagique  potentem 

Invidiam  Fortuna  suam.      Tu  causa  malorum 

Facta  tribus  dominis  communis,  Roma,  nee  unquam     86 

In  turbam  missi  feralia  foedera  regni. 

O  male  Concordes  nimiaque  cupidine  caeci. 

Quid  miscere  iuvat  vires  orbemque  tenere 

In  medio  ?  dum  terra  fretum  terramque  levabit 

Aer  et  longi  volvent  Titana  labores  90 

Noxque  diem  caelo\totidem  per  signa  sequetur. 

Nulla  fides  regni  sociis,  omnisque  potestas 

Inpatiens  consortis  erit.      Nee  gentibus  ullis 

Credite,  nee  longe  fatorum  exempla  petantur : 

Fraterno  primi  maduerunt  sanguine  muri.  06 

Nee  pretium  tanti  tellus  pontusque  furoris 

^  omnia — concurrent  was  excluded  by  Bentley. 

1  I.e.  she  will  heave  them  up. 

2  The  moon  drives  two  horses  {hiqae)  ;  the  sun  has  four. 
^  The  triumvirs.  *  The  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiao. 

8 


BOOK    I 

fall  which  no  emincDce  can  escape ;  it  was  the 
grievous  collapse  of  excessive  weight,  and  Home 
unable  to  support  her  own  greatness.  Even  so,' 
when  the  framework  of  the  world  is  dissolved  and  the 
final  hour,  closing  so  many  ages,  reverts  to  primeval 
chaos,  then  [all  the  constellations  will  clash  in  con- 
fusion,] the  fiery  stars  will  drop  into  the  sea,  and  earth, 
refusing  to  spread  her  shores  out  flat,^  will  shake 
off  the  ocean ;  the  moon  will  move  in  opposition  to 
her  brother,  and  claim  to  rule  the  day,  disdaining  to 
drive  her  chariot  ^  along  her  slanting  orbit ;  and  the 
whole  distracted  fabric  of  the  shattered  firmament 
will  overthrow  its  laws.  Great  things  come  crash- 
ing down  upon  themselves — such  is  the  limit  of 
growth  ordained  by  heaven  for  success.  Nor  did 
Fortune  lend  her  grudge  to  any  foreign  nations,  to 
use  against  the  people  that  ruled  earth  and  sea  :  the 
doom  of  Kome  was  due  to  Rome  herself,  when  she 
became  the  joint  property  of  three  masters,^  and 
when  despotism,  which  never  before  was  shared 
among  so  many,  struck  its  bloody  bargain.  Blinded 
by  excess  of  ambition,  the  Three  joined  hands  for 
mischief.  What  boots  it  to  unite  their  strength  and 
rule  the  world  in  common?  As  long  as  earth 
supports  the  sea  and  air  the  earth  ;  as  long  as  his 
unending  task  shall  make  the  sun  go  round,  and 
night  shall  follow  day  in  the  heavens,  each  passing 
through  the  same  number  of  signs  *-^so  long  will 
loyalty  be  impossible  between  sharers  in  tyranny, 
and  great  place  will  resent  a  partner.  Searcli  not 
the  history  of  foreign  nat7jns  for  proof,  nor  look  far 
for  an  instance  of  Fate's  decree :  the  rising  walls  of 
Rome  M'ere  wetted  with  a  brother's  blood.  Nor  was 
such  madness  rewarded  then  by  lordship  over  land 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tunc  erat :   exiguum  dominos  commisit  asylum. 

Temporis  angusti  mansit  concordia  discors, 
Paxque  fuit  non  sponte  ducum  ;  nam  sola  futuri 
Crassus  erat  belli  medius  mora.     Qualiter  undas         100 
Qui  secat  et  geminum  gracilis  mare  separat  Isthmos 
Nee  patitur  conferre  fretum,  si  terra  recedat, 
Ionium  Aegaeo  frangat  mare  :  sic_,  ubi  saeva 
Arma  ducum  dirimens  miserando  funere  Crassus 
Assyrias  Latio  maculavit  sanguine  Carrhas,  105 

Parthica  Romanos  solverunt  damna  furores. 
Plus  ilia  vobis  acie,  quam  creditis,  actum  est, 
Arsacidae  :  bellum  victis  civile  dedistis. 
Dividitur  ferro  regnum,  populique  potentis. 
Quae  mare,  quae  terras,  quae  totum  possidet  orbem, 
Non  cepit  fortuna  duos.      Nam  pignora  iuncti  111 

Sanguinis  et  diro  ferales  omine  taedas 
Abstulit  ad  manes  Parcarum  Julia  saeva 
Intercepta  manu.      Quod  si  tibi  fata  dedissent 
Maiores  in  luce  moras,  tu  sola  furentem  115 

Inde  virum  poteras  atque  hinc  retinere  parentem 
Armatasque  manus  excusso  iungere  ferro, 
[Jt  generos  soceris  mediae  iunxere  Sabinae. 
Morte  tua  discussa  fides,  bellumque  movere 
Permissum  ducibus.     Stimulos  dedit  aemula  virtus  : 
Tu,  nova  ne  veteres  obscurent  acta  triumphos  121 

Et  victis  cedat  piratica  laurea  Gallis, 

*  The  earliest  settlement  of  Romulus  was  a  sanctuary  for 
criminals. 

"  The  Parthian  kings  bore  the  name  of  Arsaces ;  hence  the 
nation  are  called  Arsacidae  here  and  elsewhere  in  the  poem. 

'  Julia,  daughter  of  Caesar  and  wife  of  Pompey,  died  in  the 
autumn  of  54  B.C.  The  "dread  omen "  apparently  refers  to  her 
coming  death. 

*  Lucan    uses    this    name    for    Pompey    more    often    than 
1  Pompeius :  Caesar  he  always  calls  Caesar. 

lO 


BOOK   I 

and  sea  :  the  narrow  bounds  of  the  Asylum  *  pitted  its 
owners  one  against  the  other. 

For  a  brief  space  the  jarring  harmony  was  main- 
tained, and  tliere  was  peace  despite  the  will  of  the 
chiefs ;  for  Crassus,  who  stood  between,  was  the  only 
check  on  imminent  war.  So  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth 
divides  the  main  and  parts  two  seas  with  its  slender 
line,  forbidding  them  to  mingle  their  waters  ;  but  if 
its  soil  were  withdrawn,  it  would  dash  the  Ionian  sea 
against  the  Aegean.  Thus  Crassus  kept  apart  the 
eager  combatants  ;  but  when  he  met  his  pitiable  end 
and  stained  Syrian  Carrhae  with  Roman  blood,  the 
loss  inflicted  by  Parthia  let  loose  the  madness  of 
Rome.  By  that  battle  the  Parthians  ^  did  more  than 
they  realise  :  they  visited  the  vanquished  with  civil 
war.  The  tyrants'  power  was  divided  by  the  sword  ; 
and  the  wealth  of  the  imperial  people,  that  possessed 
sea  and  land  the  whole  world  over,  was  not  enough 
for  two.  For,  when  Julia  ^  was  cut  off  by  the  cruel 
hand  of  Fate,  she  bore  with  her  to  the  world  below 
the  bond  of  affinity  and  the  marriage  which  the 
dread  omen  turned  to  mourning.  She  alone,  had 
Fate  granted  her  longer  life,  might  have  restrained 
the  rage  of  her  husband  on  one  side  and  her  father 
on  the  other ;  she  might  have  struck  down  their 
swords  and  joined  their  armed  hands,  as  the  Sabine 
women  stood  between  and  reconciled  their  fathers 
to  their  husbands.  But  loyalty  was  shattered  by 
the  death  of  Julia,  and  leave  was  given  to  the 
chiefs  to  begin  the  conflict.  Rivalry  in  worth 
spurred  them  on ;  for  Magnus  *  feared  that  fresher 
exploits  might  dim  his  past  triumphs,  and  that  his 
victory  over  the  pirates  might  give  place  to  the 
conquest  of  Gaul,  while  Caesar  was  urged  on  by 

II 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Magne,  limes  ;  te  iam  series  ususque  laborum 
Erigit  inpatiensque  loci  fortuna  secundi ; 
Nee  quemquam  iam  ferre  potest  Caesarve  priorem 
'  Pompeiusve  parem.     Quis  iustius  induit  arma,  126 

Scire  nefas  ;  magno  se  iudice  quisque  tuetur : 
Victrix  causa  deis  placuit,  sed  victa  Catoni. 
Nee  coiere  pares.     Alter  vergentibus  annis 
In  senium  longoque  togae  tranquillior  usu  130 

Dedidicit  iam  pace  ducem,  famaeque  petitor 
Multa  dare  in  volgus,  totus  popularibus  auris 
Inpeliij  plausuque  sui  gaud  ere  theatri. 
Nee  reparare  novas  vires^  multumque  priori 
Credere  fortunae.     Stat  magni  nominis  umbra  ;  135 

Qualis  frugifero  quercus  sublimis  in  agro 
Exuvias  veteres  populi  sacrataque  gestans 
Dona  ducum  nee  iam  validis  radicibus  haerens 
Pondere  fixa  suo  est,  nudosque  per  aera  ramos 
EfFundens  trunco,  non  frondibus,  efficit  umbram  ;        140 
Et  quamvis  primo  nutet  casura  sub  Euro, 
Tot  circum  silvae  firmo  se  robore  tollant, 
Sola  tamen  colitur.      Sed  non  in  Caesare  tantum 
Nomen  erat  nee  fama  ducis,  sed  nescia  virtus 
Stare  loco,  solusque  pudor  non  vincere  bello ;  145 

Acer  et  indomitus,  quo  spes  quoque  ira  vocasset, 
Ferre  manum  et  numquam  temerando  parcere  ferro, 
Successus  urguere  suos,  instare  favori 
Numinis,  inpellens,  quidquid  sibi  summa  petenti 
Obstaret,  gaudensque  viam  fecisse  ruina.  160 

^  Pompey,  born  in  106  B.C.,  was  six  years  older  than  Caesar. 
12 


BOOK   I 

continuous  effort  and  familiarity  with  warfare,  and 
by  fortune  that  brooked  no  second  place.  Caesar 
could  no  longer  endure  a  superior,  nor  Pompey 
an  equal.  Which  had  the  fairer  pretext  for  war- 
fare, we  may  not  know :  each  has  high  authority  to 
support  him ;  for,  if  the  victor  had  the  gods  on  his 
side,  the  vanquished  had  Cato.  The  two  rivals  were 
ill-matched.  The  one  was  somewhat  tamed  by  de- 
clining years  ;  ^  for  long  he  had  worn  the  toga  and  for- 
gotten in  peace  the  leader's  part ;  courting  reputa- 
tion and  lavish  to  the  common  people,  he  was  swayed 
entirely  by  the  breath  of  popularity  and  delighted 
in  the  applause  that  hailed  him  in  the  theatre  he 
built ;  and  trusting  fondly  to  his  former  greatness, 
he  did  nothing  to  support  it  by  fresh  power.  The 
mere  shadow  of  a  mighty  name  he   stood.     Thus 

j^j  an  oak-tree,  laden  with  the  ancient  trophies  of  a 
nation  and  the  consecrated  gifts  of  conquerors, 
towers  in  a  fruitful  field ;  but  the  roots  it  clings  by 
have  lost  their  toughness,  and  it  stands  by  its  weight 
alone,  throwing  out  bare  boughs  into  the  sky  and 
making  a  shade  not  with  leaves  but  with  its  trunk  ; 

iT'  though  it  totters  doomed  to  fall  at  the  first  gale, 
while  many  trees  with  sound  timber  rise  beside  it, 
yet  it  alone  is  worshipped.  But  Caesar  had  more 
than  a  mere  name  and  military  reputation :  his 
energy  could  never  rest,  and  his  one  disgrace  was 
to  conquer  without  war.  He  was  alert  and  head- 
strong ;  his  arms  answered  every  summons  of  am- 
bition or  resentment;  he  never  shrank  from  using 
the  sword  lightly ;  he  followed  up  each  success  and 
snatched  at  the  favour  of  Fortune,  overthrowing 
every  obstacle  on  his  path  to  supreme  power,  and 
rejoicing  to  clear  the  way  before  him  by  destruction. 

13 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Qualiter  expressum  ventis  per  nubila  fulmen 

Aetheris  inpulsi  sonitu  mundique  fragore 

Emicuit  rupitque  diem  populosque  paventes 

Terruit  obliqua  praestrin^^ns  lumina  flamma  ; 

In  sua  templa  furitj  nullaque  exire  vetante  155 

Materia  magnamque  cadens  magnamque  revertens 

Dat  stragem  late  sparsosque  recolligit  ignes. 

Hae  ducibus  causae  ;  suberant  sed  publica  belli 
Semina^  quae  populos  semper  mersere  potentes. 
Namque,  ut  opes  nimias  mundo  fortuna  subacto  160 

Intulit  et  rebus  mores  cessere  secundis, 
Praedaque  et  hostiles  luxum  suasere  rapinae, 
Non  auro  tectisve  modus,  mensasque  priores 
Aspernata  fames  ;  cultus  gestare  decoros 
Vix  nuribus  rapuere  mares;  fecunda  virorum  165 

Paupertas  fugitur,  totoque  accersitur  orbe 
Quo  gens  quaeque  perit ;  turn  longos  iungere  fines 
Agrorum,  et  quondam  duro  sulcata  Camilli 
Vomere  et  antiquos  Curiorum  passa  ligones 
Longa  sub  ignotis  extendere  rura  colonis.  170 

Non  erat  is  populus,  quern  pax  tranquilla  iuvaret, 
Quem  sua  libertas  inmotis  pasceret  armis. 
Inde  irae  faciles  et,  quod  suasisset  egestas, 
Vile  nefas,  magnumque  decus  ferroque  petendum, 
Pius  patria  potuisse  sua,  mensuraque  iuris  175 

Vis  erat ;  hinc  leges  et  plebis  scita  coactae 


*  There  was  only  one  famous  Curius  ;   but  Latin  often  uses 
the  plural  in  the  sense  of  "men  like  Curius"  ;  of.  1.  313. 

14 


BOOK    I 

Even  so  the  lightning  is  driven  forth  by  wind 
through  the  clouds :  with  noise  of  the  smitten 
heaven  and  crashing  of  the  firmament  it  flashes  out 
and  cracks  the  daylight  sky,  striking  fear  and  terror 
into  mankind  and  dazzling  the  eye  with  slanting 
flame.  It  rushes  to  its  appointed  quarter  of  the 
sky ;  nor  can  any  solid  matter  forbid  its  free  course, 
but  both  falling  and  returning  it  spreads  destruction 
far  and  wide  and  gathers  again  its  scattered  fires. 

Such  were  the  motives  of  the  leaders.  But  among 
the  people  there  were  hidden  causes  of  war — the 
causes  which  have  ever  brought  down  ruin  upon 
imperial  racei^.  For  when  Rome  had  conquered  the 
world  and  Fortune  showered  excess  of  wealth  upon 
her,  virtue  was  dethroned  by  prosperity,  and  the 
spoil  taken  from  the  enemy  lured  men  to  extrava- 
gance :  they  set  no  limit  to  their  wealth  or  their 
dwellings  ;  greed  rejected  the  food  that  once  sufficed ; 
men  seized  for  their  use  garments  scarce  decent  for 
women  to  wear ;  poverty,  the  mother  of  manhood,  be- 
came a  bugbear ;  and  from  all  the  earth  was  brought 
the  special  bane  of  each  nation.  Next  they  stretched 
wide  the  boundaries  of  their  lands,  till  those  acres, 
which  once  were  furrowed  by  the  iron  plough  of 
Camillus  and  felt  the  spade  of  a  Curius^  long  ago, 
grew  into  vast  estates  tilled  by  foreign  cultivators. 
Sucli  a  nation  could  find  no  pleasure  in  peace  and 
quiet,  nor  leave  the  sword  alone  and  grow  fat  on 
their  own  freedom.  Hence  they  were  quick  to 
anger,  and  crime  prompted  by  poverty  was  lightly 
regarded ;  to  overawe  the  State  was  high  distinction 
which  justified  recourse  to  the  sword ;  and  might 
became  the  standard  of  right.  Hence  came  laws 
and  decrees  of  the  people  passed  by  violence ;  and 

15 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  cum  consulibus  turbantes  iura  tribuni ; 

Hinc  rapti  fasces  pretio  sectorque  favoris 

Ipse  sui  populus  letalisque  ambitus  urbi 

Annua  venali  referens  certamina  Campo ;  180 

Hinc  usura  vorax  avidumque  in  tempora  fenus 

Et  concussa  fides  et  multis  utile  bellum. 

lam  gelidas  Caes^'  cursu  superaver^  Alpes 
Ingentesque^animo^  motus  bellum  que  futurum 
Ceperat.      Ut  ventum  est  parvi  Rubiconis  ad  unda^, 
Tngens  visa  duci  patnae  trepidantis  imago  186 

Clar^  per  obscuram  vpltu  niaestissima  noctem, 
Turrigero  c^nos  effundens  vertice  crines, 
Caesarie_lacera  njudisque  ads_tare  lacjertis 
Et  gengijitu  permixta  loqui :  ''  Quo  tenditis  ultra  ?        190 
Quo  fertis  mea  signa,  viri  ?  si  iure  venitis, 
Si  cives,  hue  usque  licet."     Tum  perculit  horror 
Membra  ducis,  riguere  comae,  gressumque  coercens 
Languor  in  extrema  tenuit  vestigia  ripa. 
Mox  ait :  "  O  magnae  qui  moenia  prospicis  urbis        195 
Tarpeia  de  rupe,  Tonans,  Phrygiique  penates 
Gentis  luleae  et  rapti  secreta  Quirini 
Et  residens  celsa  Latiaris  luppiter  Alba 
Vestalesque  foci  simimique  o  numinis  instar, 
Roma,  fave  coeptis  ;  non  te  furialibus  armis  200 

Persequor  ;  en  adsum  victor  terraque  marique 
Caesar,  ubique  tuus — liceat  modo,  nunc  quoque — miles. 

1  Order  should  be  represented  by  the  consuls,  and  progress  by 
the  tribunes;  but  both  bodies  were  equally  factious. 

-  Elections  to  the  magistracies  were  held  in  the  Campn,s 
Martins. 

3  Personifications  of  cities  often  wear  this  kind  of  crown. 

i6 


BOOK    I 

consuls  and  tribunes  ^  alike  threw  justice  into  con- 
fusion ;  hence  office  was  snatched  by  bribery  and 
the  people  put  up  its  own  support  for  auction,  while 
corruption,  repeating  year  by  year  the  venal  com- 
[>etition  of  the  Cainpus,^  destroyed  the  State  ; 
lience  came  devouring  usury  and  interest  that  looks 
greedily  to  the  day  of  payment ;  credit  was  shattered, 
and  many  found  their  profit  in  war. 

And  now  Caesar  had  hastened  across  the  frozen 
Alps  and  had  conceived  in  his  heart  the  great 
rebellion  and  the  coming  war.  When  he  reached 
the  little  river  Rubicon,  the  general  saw  a  vision  of 
his  distressed  country.  Her  mighty  image  was 
clearly  seen  in  the  darkness  of  night;  her  face 
expressed  deep  sorrow,  and  from  her  head,  crowned 
with  towers,^  the  white  hair  streamed  abroad  ;  she 
stood  beside  him  with  tresses  torn  and  arms  bare, 
and  her  speech  was  broken  by  sobs :  "  Whither  do 
ye  march  further  ?  and  whither  do  ye  bear  my 
standards,  ye  warriors  ?  If  ye  come  as  law  abiding 
citizens,  here  must  ye  stop."  Then  trembling  smote 
the  leader's  limbs,  his  hair  stood  on  end,  a  faintness 
stopped  his  motion  and  fettered  his  feet  on  the  edge 
of  the  river-bank.  But  soon  he  spoke:  '^O  God 
of  thunder,  who  from  the  Tarpeian  rock  lookest  out 
over  the  walls  of  the  great  city  ;  O  ye  Trojan  gods 
of  the  house  of  lulus,  and  mysteries  of  Quirinus 
snatched  from  earth  ;  O  Jupiter  of  Latium,  who 
dwellest  on  Alba's  height,  and  ye  fires  of  Vesta; 
and  thou,  O  Rome,  as  sacred  a  name  as  any,  smile 
on  my  enterprise  ;  I  do  not  attack  thee  in  frantic 
warfare ;  behold  me  here,  me  Caesar,  a  conqueror 
by  land  and  sea  and  everywhere  thy  champion,  as  I 
would  be  now  also,  were  it  possible.     His,  his  shall 

VOL.  I  b 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ille  erit,  ille  nocens,  qui  me  tibi  fecerit  hostem/* 
Inde  moras  solvit  belli  tumidumque  per  amnem 
Signa  tulit  propere  ;  sicut  squalentibus  arvis  205 

Aestiferae  Li  byes  vlso  leo  comminus  hoste 
Subsedit  dubius,  totam  dum  colligit  iram ; 
Mox,  ubi  se  saevae  stimulavit  verbere  caudae 
Erexitque  iubam  et  vasto  grave  murmur  hiatu 
Infremuit,  turn,  torta  levis  si  lancea  Mauri  210 

Haereat  aut  latum  subeant  venabula  pectus. 
Per  ferrum  tanti  securus  volneris  exit. 

Fonte  cadit  modico  parvisque  inpellitur  undis 
Puiiiceus  Rubicon,  cum  fervida  canduit  aestas, 
Perque  imas  serpit  valles  et  Gallica  certus  216 

Limes  ab  Ausoniis  disteniiinat  arva  colonis. 
Tum  vires  praebebat  hiemps,  atque  auxerat  undas 
Tertia  iam  gravido  pluvialis  Cynthia  cornu 
Et  madidis  Euri  resolutae  flatibus  Alpes. 
Primus  in  obliquum  sonipes  opponitur  amnem  220 

Excepturus  aquas  ;  moUi  tum  cetera  rumpit 
Turba  vado  faciles  iam  fracti  fluminis  undas. 
Caesar,  ut  adversam  superato  gurgite  ripam 
Attigit,  Hesperiae  vetitis  et  const! tit  arvis,  224 

"  Hie,"  ait,  '^  hie  pacem  temerataque  iura  relinquo ; 
Te,  Fortuna,  sequor.     Procul  hinc  iam  foedera  sunto  ; 
Credidimus  satis  his,^  utendum  est  iudice  bello." 
Sic  fatus  noctis  tenebris  rapit  agmina  ductor 
Inpiger,  et  torto  Balearis  vjerbere  fundae 

*  satis  his  TTowman  :  fat  is  MSS. 


^  I.e.,   rushes  on  so  violently  that  the  spear  pierces  him 
through  and  through. 

2  The  meaning  is  that  there  had  been  three  nights  of  rain. 

i8 


BOOK   I 

be  the  guilt,  who  has  made  me  thine  enemy." 
Then  he  loosed  war  from  its  bonds  and  carried  his 
standards  in  haste  over  the  swollen  stream.  So  on 
the  untilled  fields  of  sultry  Libya,  when  the  lion  sees 
his  foe  at  hand,  he  crouches  down  at  first  uncertain 
till  he  gathers  all  his  rage ;  but  soon,  when  he  has 
maddened  himself  with  the  cruel  lash  of  his  tail, 
and  made  his  mane  stand  up,  and  sent  forth  a  roar 
from  his  cavernous  jaws,  then,  if  the  brandished 
lance  of  the  nimble  Moor  stick  in  his  flesh  or  a 
spear  pierce  his  great  chest,  he  passes  on  along  the 
length  of  the  weapon,^  careless  of  so  sore  a  wound. 

The  ruddy  river  Rubicon  glides  through  the 
bottom  of  the  valleys  and  serves  as  a  fixed  landmark 
to  divide  the  land  of  Gaul  from  the  farms  of  Italy. 
Issuing  from  a  modest  spring,  it  runs  with  scanty 
stream  in  the  heat  of  burning  summer ;  but  now  it 
was  swollen  by  winter  ;  and  its  waters  were  increased 
by  the  third  rising  of  a  rainy  moon  ^  with  moisture- 
laden  horn,  and  by  Alpine  snows  which  damp  blasts 
of  wind  had  melted.  First  the  cavalry  took  station 
slantwise  across  the  stream,  to  meet  its  flow ;  thus 
the  current  was  broken,  and  the  rest  of  the  army 
forded  the  water  with  ease.  When  Caesar  had 
crossed  the  stream  and  reached  the  Italian  bank  on 
the  further  side,  he  halted  on  the  forbidden  terri- 
tory :  "  Here,"  he  cried,  "  here  I  leave  peace  behind 
me  and  legality  which  has  been  scorned  already; 
henceforth  I  follow  Fortune.  Hereafter  let  me 
hear  no  more  of  agreements.  In  them  I  have  put 
my  trust  long  enough  ;  now  I  must  seek  the  arbitra- 
ment of  war."  Thus  spoke  the  leader  and  quickly 
urged  his  army  on  through  the  darkness  of  night. 
Faster  he  goes  than  the   bullet   whirled   from   the 

19 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ocior  et  missa  Parthi  post  terga  sagitta,  ,  230 

Vicinumque  minax  invadit  Ariminum,  et  ignes 

Solis  lucifero  fugiebant  astra  relicto. 

lanique  dies  primos  belli  visura  tumultus 

Exoritur  ;  seu  sponte  deiini,  seu  turbidus  auster 

Inpulerat,  maestam  tenuerunt  nubila  lucem.  236 

Constitit  ut  capto  iussus  deponere  miles 

Signa  foro,  stridor  litimm  clangorque  tubarum 

Non  pia  concinuit  cum  raueo  classica  cornu. 

Rupta  quies  populi,  stratisque  excita  iuventus 

Deripuit  sacris  adfixa  peiiatibus  arma,  240 

Quae  pax  longa  dabat :  nuda  iam  crate  fluentes 

Invadunt  clipeos  curvataque  cuspide  pila 

Et  scabros  nigrae  morsu  rubiginis  enses. 

Ut  notae  fulsere  aquilae  Romanaque  signa 

Et  celsus  medio  conspectus  in  agmine  Caesar^  246 

Deriguere  metu,  gelidos  pavor  occupat  artus, 

Et  tacito  mutos  volvunt  in  pectore  questus : 

"  O  male  vicinis  haec  moenia  condita  Gallis, 

O  tristi  damnata  loco  !  pax  alta  per  omnes  249 

Et  tranquilla  quies  populos  ;  nos  praeda  furentum 

Primaque  castra  sumus.      Melius,  Fortuna,  dedisses 

Orbe  sub  Eoo  sedera  gelidaque  sub  arcto 

Errantesque  domos,  Latii  quam  claustra  tueri. 

Nos  primi  Senonum  motus  Cimbrumque  ruentem 

20 


-  J '  BOOK    I 

Balearic  sling,  or  the  arrow  which  the  Parthian 
shoots  over  his  shoulder.  Ariniinum  was  the  nearest 
town,  and  he  brought  terror  there,  when  the  stars 
were  fleeing  from  the  sunlight  and  the  morning 
star  alone  was  left.  So  the  day  dawned  that  was 
to  witness  the  first  turmoil  of  the  war  ;  but  clouds 
veiled  the  mournful  light,  either  because  the  gods 
so  willed  or  because  the  stormy  South  wind  had 
driven  them  up.  When  the  soldiers  halted  in  the 
captured  forum  and  were  bidden  to  lay  down  their 
standards,  the  blare  of  trumpets  and  shrill  note  of 
clarions  together  with  the  boom  of  horns  sounded 
the  alarm  of  civil  war.  The  inhabitants  were  roused 
from  sleep.  Starting  from  tlieir  beds,  the  men 
snatched  down  the  arms  that  hung  beside  the  house- 
hold gods — such  arms  as  the  long  peace  supplied  : 
they  lay  hold  on  shields  that  are  falling  to  pieces 
with  framework  exposed,  javelins  with  their  points 
bent,  and  swords  roughened  by  the  bite  of  black 
rust.  But  when  they  recognised  the  glitter  of  the 
Roman  eagles  and  standards  and  saw  Caesar  mounted 
in  the  midst  of  his  army,  they  stood  motionless  with 
fear,  terror  seized  their  chilly  limbs,  and  these  un- 
uttered  complaints  they  turn  over  in  their  silent 
breasts  :  "  Alas  for  our  town,  built  with  Gaul  beside 
it  and  doomed  by  its  unlucky  site  to  misfortune  ! 
Over  all  the  earth  there  is  profound  peace  and  un- 
broken quiet ;  but  we  are  the  booty  and  first  bivouac 
of  these  madmen.  Fate  would  have  been  kinder 
if  she  had  placed  us  under  the  Eastern  sky  or  the 
frozen  North,  and  made  us  guard  the  tents  of 
nomads  rather  than  the  gates  of  Italy.  We  were 
the  first  to  witness  the  movement  of  the  Senones, 
the  onrush  of  the  Cimbrian,  the  sword  of  Hannibal, 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Vidimus  et  Martem  Libyae  cursumque  furoris  265 

Teutonici :  quotieiis  llomam  fortuna  lacessit, 

Hac  iter  est  bellis."     Gemitu  sic  quisque  latenti, 

Non  ausus  timuisse  palam  ;  vox  nulla  dolori 

Credita  ;  sed  quantum,  volucres  cum  bruma  coercet, 

Rura  silent,  mediusque  tacet  sine  murmure  pontus, 

Tanta  quies.     Noctis  gelidas  lux  solverat  umbras, 

Ecce  faces  belli  dubiaeque  in  proelia  menti  262 

Urguentes  addunt  stimulos  cunctasque  pudoris 

Rumpunt  fata  moras  ;  iustos  Fortuna  laborat 

Esse  ducis  motus  et  causas  invenit  armis.  265 

Expulit  ancipiti  discordes  urbe  tribunos 

Victo  iure  minax  iactatis  curia  Gracchis. 

Hos  iam  mota  ducis  vicinaque  signa  petentes 

Audax  venali  comitatur  Curio  lingua, 

Vox  quondam  populi  libertatemque  tueri  270 

Ausus  et  armatos  plebi  miscere  potentes. 

Utque  ducem  varias  volventem  pectore  curas 

Conspexit :  ''  Dum  voce  tuae  potuere  iuvari, 

Caesar,"  ait  ^^  partes,  quamvis  nolente  senatu, 

Traximus  imperium,  tum  cum  mihi  rostra  tenere        275 

lus  erat  et  dubios  in  te  transferre  Quirites. 

At  postquam  leges  bello  siluere  coactae, 

Pellimur  e  patriis  laribus  patimurque  volentes 

Rxilium  ;  tua  nos  faciet  victoria  cives. 

Dum  trepidant  nullo  firmatae  robore  partes,  280 

ToUe  moras  ;  semper  nocuit  diiferre  paratis. 

1  The  dates  of  these  invasions  are:  390,  101,  218,  and  101  B.C.: 
Lucan's  order  is  artificial. 

2  Whom  the  Senate  had  crushed  in  133  and  121  b.c.     The 
tribunes  expelled  on  this  occasion  were  Antony  and  Q.  Cassius. 

22 


BOOK    I 

and  the  wild  career  of  the  Teutones  *  :  whenever 
Fortune  attacks  Rome,  the  warriors  take  their  way 
through  us."  This  was  each  man's  muffled  groan  ; 
none  dared  to  utter  his  fear  aloud,  nor  was  any 
voice  lent  to  their  grief;  such  is  the  silence  of  the 
country  when  winter  strikes  the  birds  dumb,  and 
such  the  silence  of  mid-ocean  in  still  weather. 
When  light  had  banished  the  cold  shades  of  night, 
lo !  destiny  kindled  the  flame  of  war,  applying  to 
Caesar's  hesitating  heart  the  spur  that  pricked  him 
to  battle,  and  bursting  all  the  barriers  that  reverence 
opposed.  Fate  was  determined  to  justify  Caesar's 
rebellion,  and  she  found  excuse  for  drawing  the 
sword.  For  the  Senate,  trampling  on  the  laws,  had 
menaced  and  driven  out  the  wrangling  tribunes 
from  the  distracted  city,  and  boasted  of  the  doom 
of  the  Gracchi  ^ ;  and  now  the  fugitives  made  for 
Caesar's  camp,  already  far  advanced  and  close  to 
Rome.  With  them  came  Curio  of  the  reckless 
heart  and  venal  tongue  ;  yet  once  he  had  been  the 
spokesman  of  the  people  and  a  bold  champion  of 
freedom,  who  dared  to  bring  down  the  armed  chiefs 
to  the  level  of  the  crowd.  When  Curio  saw  Caesar 
turning  over  shifting  counsels  in  his  heart,  he  spoke 
thus  :  "  Caesar,  while  my  voice  could  serve  your  side 
and  when  I  was  permitted  to  hold  the  Rostrum  and 
bring  over  doubting  citizens  to  your  interest,  I  pro- 
longed your  command  in  defiance  of  the  Senate. 
But  now  law  has  been  silenced  by  the  constraint 
of  war,  and  we  have  been  driven  from  our  country. 
We  suffer  exile  willingly,  because,  your  victory  will 
make  us  citizens  again.  While  your  foes  are  in 
confusion  and  before  they  have  gathered  strength, 
make  haste  ;  delay  is  ever  fatal  to  those   who  are 

23 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Par  labor  atque  metus,  pretio  maiore  petiintur. 
Bellanteni  gemiiiis  tenuit  te  Gallia  lustris. 
Pars  quota  terrarum  !  facili  si  proelia  pauca 
Gesseris  eventu,  tibi  Roma  subegerit  orbein.  285 

Nunc  neque  te  longi  remeantem  pom{)a  triumphi 
Excipit,  aut  sacras  poscunt  Capitolia  laurus ; 
Livor  edax  tibi  cuncta  negat,  gentesque  subactas 
Vix  inpune  feres.     Socerum  depellere  regno 
Decretum  genero  est ;  partiri  non  potes  orbem,  290 

Solus  habere  potes."     Sic  postquam  fatus,  et  ipsi 
In  bellum  prono  tantum  tamen  addidit  irae 
Accenditque  ducem,  quantum  clamore  iuvatur 
Eleus  sonipes,  quamvis  iam  carcere  clauso 
Inmineat  foribus  pronusque  repagula  laxet.  295 

Convocat  armatos  extemplo  ad  signa  maniplos, 
Utque  satis  trepidum  turba  coeunte  tumultum 
Conposuit  voltu  dextraque  silentia  iussit, 
"  Bellorum  o  socii,  qui  mille  pericula  Martis 
Mecum"  ait  '' expert!  decimo  iam  vincitis  anno,  300 

Hoc  cruor  Arctois  meruit  difFusus  in  arvis 
Volneraque  et  mortes  liiemesque  sub  Alpibus  actae  } 
Non  secus  ingenti  bellorum  Roma  tumultu 
Concutitur,  quam  si  Poenus  transcenderet  Alpes 
Hannibal:  inplentur  validae  tirone  cohortes  ;  305 

In  classem  cadit  omne  nemus ;  terraque  marique 
lussus  Caesar  agi.     Quid  ?  si  mihi  signa  iacerent 

24 


BOOK    I 

prepared.  The  toil  and  danger  are  no  greater  than 
before,  but  the  prize  you  seek  is  higher.  Twice 
five  years  Gaul  kept  you  fighting  ;  but  how  small 
a  part  of  the  earth  is  Gaul  !  Win  but  two  or  three 
battles,  and  it  will  be  for  you  that  Rome  has  subdued 
the  world.  As  it  is,  no  long  triumphal  procession 
awaits  your  return,  nor  does  the  Capitol  demand 
your  consecrated  laurels ;  gnawing  envy  denies  you 
all  things,  and  you  will  scarce  go  "unpunished  for 
your  conquest  of  foreign  nations.  Your  daughter's 
husband  has  resolved  to  thrust  you  down  from 
sovereignty.  Half  the  world  you  may  not  have,  but 
you  can  have  the  whole  world  for  yourself."  Eager 
for  war  as  Caesar  was  already,  these  words  of  Curio 
increased  his  rage  and  fired  his  ardour  none  the 
less ;  so  the  race-horse  at  Olympia  is  encouraged 
by  the  shouting,  although  he  is  already  pressing 
against  the  gates  of  the  closed  barrier  and  seeking 
to  loosen  the  bolts  with  his  forehead.  At  once 
Caesar  summoned  his  armed  companies  to  the 
standards;  his  mien  quieted  the  bustle  and  con- 
fusion of  the  assembling  troops,  his  right  hand 
commanded  silence,  and  thus  he  s])oke  :  "  Men  who 
have  fought  and  faced  with  me  the  peril  of  battle 
a  thousand  times,  for  ten  years  past  you  have  been 
victorious.  Is  this  your  reward  for  blood  shed  on 
the  fields  of  the  North,  for  wounds  and  death,  and 
for  winters  passed  beside  the  Alps?  The  huge 
hubbub  of  war  with  which  Rome  is  shaken  could  be 
no  greater,  if  Carthaginian  Hannibal  had  crossed 
the  Alps.  Cohorts  are  raised  to  their  full  strength 
with  recruits ;  every  forest  is  felled  to  make  ships  ; 
the  word  has  gone  forth  that  Caesar  be  chased  by 
land   and   sea.      What   would   my   foes    do   if    my 

25 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Marte  sub  adverse,  ruerentque  in  terga  feroces 

Gallorum  populi  ?  nunc,  cum  fortuna  secundis 

Mecum  rebus  agat  superique  ad  summa  vocantes,       310 

Temptamur.     Veniat  longa  dux  pace  solutus 

Milite  cum  subito  partesque  in  bella  togatae 

Marcellusque  loquax  et,  nomina  vaiia,  Catones. 

Scilicet  extremi  Pompeium  emptique  clientes 

Continue  per  tot  satiabunt  tempora  regno  ?  315 

I  lie  reget  currus  nondum  patientibus  annis  ? 

Ille  semel  raptos  numquani  dimittet  honores? 

Quid  iam  rura  querar  totum  suppressa  per  orbem 

Ac  iussam  servire  famem  ?  quis  castra  timenti 

Nescit  mixta  foro,  gladii  cum  triste  micantes  320 

ludicium  insolita  trepidum  cinxere  corona, 

Atque  auso  medias  perrumpere  milite  leges 

Pompeiana  reum  clauserunt  signa  Milonem  ? 

Nunc  quoque,  ne  lassum  teneat  privata  senectus, 

Bella  nefanda  parat  suetus  civilibus  armis  325 

Et  docilis  Sullam  scelerum  vicisse  magistrum. 

Utque  ferae  tigres  nunquam  posuere  furorem, 

Quas  nemore  Hyrcano,  matrum  dum  lustra  secuntur, 

Altus  caesorum  pavit  cruor  armentorum, 

Sic  et  Sullanum  solito  tibi  lambere  ferrum  330 

Durat,  Magne,  sitis.     Nullus  semel  ore  receptus 

Pollutas  patitur  sanguis  mansuescere  fauces. 

Quem  tamen  inveniet  tarn  longa  potentia  finem  ? 

Quis  scelerum  modus  est  ?  ex  hoc  iam  te,  inprobe,  regno 

*  0.  Marcellus  was  consul  in  49  b.c.  ;  the  other  consul  was 
Lentulus. 

*  In  57  B.C.  Pompey  was  put  in  charge  of  the  corn-supply, 
with  proconsular  powers  for  five  years. 

26 


BOOK   I 

standards  lay  prostrate  in  defeat  and  the  tribes  of 
Gaul  were  rusliing  in  triumph  to  attack  my  rear? 
As  it  is,  when  Fate  deals  kindly  with  me  and  the 
gods  summon  me  to  the  highest  place,  my  foes  chal- 
lenge me.  Let  their  leader,  enervated  by  long 
peace,  come  forth  to  war  with  his  hasty  levies  and 
un warlike  partisans — Marcellus,^  that  man  of  words, 
and  Cato,  that  empty  name.  Shall  Pompey  for- 
sooth be  glutted  by  his  vile  and  venal  minions  with 
despotic  power  renewed  so  often  without  a  break  ? 
Shall  Pompey  hold  the  chariot  reins  before  reaching 
the  lawful  age  ?  Shall  Pompey  cling  for  ever  to 
the  posts  he  has  once  usurped  ?  Why  should  I 
next  complain  that  he  took  into  his  own  hands  the 
harvests  of  the  whole  world  and  forced  famine  to 
do  his  bidding  ?  ^  Who  knows  not  how  the  barrack 
invaded  the  frightened  law-court,  when  soldiers 
with  the  grim  gUtter  of  their  swords  stood  round 
the  uneasy  and  astonished  jurors  ?  how  the  warrior 
dared  to  break  into  the  sanctuary  of  justice,  and 
Pompey's  standards  besieged  Milo  in  the  dock  r 
Now  once  again,  to  escape  the  burden  of  an  obscure 
old  age,  Pompey  is  scheming  unlawful  warfare. 
Civil  war  is  familiar  to  him :  he  was  taught 
wickedness  by  Sulla  and  is  like  to  outdo  his  teacher. 
As  the  fierce  tiger,  who  has  drunk  deep  of  the  blood 
of  slain  cattle  when  following  his  dam  from  lair  to 
lair  in  the  Hyrcanian  jungle,  never  after  loses  his 
ferocity,  so  Magnus,  once  wont  to  lick  the  sword 
of  Sulla,  is  thirsty  still.  When  blood  has  once  been 
swallowed,  it  never  permits  the  throat  it  has  tainted 
to  lose  its  cruelty.  Will  power  so  long  continued 
ever  find  an  end,  or  crime  a  limit?  He  is  never 
content ;  but  let  him  learn  one  lesson  at  least  from 

27 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ille  tuus  saltern  doceat  descendere  Sulla.  335 

Post  Cilicasne  vagos  et  lassi  Pontica  regis 

Proelia  barbarico  vix  consummata  veneno 

Ultima  Pompeio  dabitur  provincia  Caesar, 

Quod  non  victrices  aquilas  deponere  iussus 

Paruerim  ?  mihi  si  merces  erepta  laborum  est,  340 

His  saltern  longi  non  cum  duce  praemia  belli 

Reddantur ;  miles  sub  quolibet  iste  triumphet. 

Conferet  exsanguis  quo  se  post  bella  senectus  ? 

Quae  sedes  erit  emeritis  ?  quae  rura  dabuntur. 

Quae  noster  veteranus  aret  ?  quae  moenia  fessis  ?       345 

An  melius  fient  piratae,  Magne,  coloni  ? 

Tollite  iampridem  victricia,  tollite,  signa  ; 

Viribus  utendum  est,  quas  fecimus.      Arma  tenenti 

Omnia  dat,  qui  iusta  negat.     Neque  numina  derunt ; 

Nam  neque  praeda  meis  neque  regnum  quaeritur  armis  : 

Detrahimus  dominos  urbi  servire  paratae."  351 

Dixerat ;  at  dubium  non  claro  murmure  volgus 
Secum  incerta  fremit.      Pietas  patriique  penates 
Quamquam  caede  feras  mentes  animosque  tumentes 
Frangunt ;  sed  diro  ferri  revocantur  amore  355 

Ductorisque  metu.     Summi  turn  munera  pill 
Laelius  emeritique  gerens  insignia  doni, 
Servati  civis  referentem  praemia  quercum, 
"  Si  licet,"  exclamat  "  Romani  maxime  rector 

^  The  Cilicians  stand  for  the  Mediterranean  pirates  generally. 
The  King  of  Pontus  was  Mithradates  ;  when  reduced  to  despair, 
he  took  poison,  but  it  failed  to  kill  him. 

2  I.e.  justifies  him  in  taking  even  mora 

^  Probably  a  tictitious  person. 

28 


BOOK   1 

his  master,  Sulla— to  step  down  at  this  stage  from 
his  unlawful  power.  First  came  the  roving  Cilicians, 
and  then  the  lingering  warfare  with  the  King  of 
Pontus^ — warfare  hardly  completed  by  the  infamy 
of  poison  ;  shall  I,  Caesar,  be  assigned  to  Pompey 
as  his  crowning  task,  because,  wlien  bidden  lay 
down  my  victorious  eagles,  I  was  disobedient  ?  But, 
if  I  am  robbed  of  the  reward  for  my  labours,  let  my 
soldiers  at  least,  without  their  leader,  receive  the 
recompense  of  their  long  service ;  and  let  them 
triumph,  be  their  leader  who  he  may.  What 
harbour  of  peace  will  they  find  for  their  feeble  old 
age,  what  dwelling-place  for  their  retirement  ? 
What  lands  will  my  veterans  receive  to  till,  what 
walls  to  shelter  their  war-worn  frames  ?  Shall 
Magnus  give  the  pirates  preference  as  colonists? 
Lift  up,  lift  up  the  standards  that  have  long  been 
victorious !  We  must  employ  the  strength  we  have 
created.  He  who  denies  his  due  to  the  strong  man 
armed  grants  him  everything.^  Nor  will  the  favour 
of  Heaven  fail  us  ;  for  neither  booty  nor  empire  is 
the  object  of  my  warfare  :  we  are  but  dislodging  a 
tyrant  from  a  State  prepared  to  bow  the  knee." 

Thus  he  spoke  ;  but  the  men  wavered  and  muttered 
doubtfully  under  their  breath  with  no  certain  sound. 
Fierce  as  they  were  with  bloodshed  and  proud  of 
heart,  they  were  unnerved  by  love  of  their  country 
and  their  country's  gods,  till  brought  to  heel  by 
horrid  love  of  slaugiiter  and  fear  of  their  leader. 
Then  Laelius,^  who  held  the  rank  of  chief  centurion 
and  bore  the  decoration  of  a  well-earned  badge — the 
oak-leaves  which  are  the  reward  for  saving  a  Roman's 
life — cried  out  thus  :  ''  Mightiest  captain  of  the 
Roman  nation,  if  I  have  leave  to  speak  and  if  it 

89 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nominis,  et  ius  est  veras  expromere  voces,  -^        360 

Quod  tain  lenta  tuas  tenuit  patientia  vires, 

Conquerimur.      Deratne  tibi  fiducia  nostri? 

Dum  movet  haec  calidus  spirantia  corpora  sanguis, 

Et  dum  pila  valent  fortes  torquere  lacerti, 

Degenerem  patiere  togam  regnumque  senatus  ?  365 

Usque  adeo  miserum  est  civili  vincere  bello  ? 

Due  age  per  Scythiae  populos,  per  inhospita  Syrtis 

Litora,  per  calidas  Libyae  sitientis  harenas  : 

Haec  manus,  ut  victum  post  terga  relinqueret  orbem, 

Oceani  tumidas  remo  conpescuit  undas^  370 

Fregit  et  arctoo  spumantem  vertice  Rhenum  : 

lussa  sequi  tam  posse  niihi  quam  velle  necesse  est. 

Nee  civis  meus  est,  in  quem  tua  classica,  Caesar, 

Audiero.     Per  signa  decern  felicia  castris 

Perque  tuos  iuro  quocumque  ex  hoste  triumphos  :       376 

Pectore  si  fratris  gladium  iuguloque  parentis 

Condere  me  iubeas  plenaeque  in  viscera  partu 

Coiiiugis,  invita  peragam  tamen  omnia  dextra ; 

Si  spoliare  deos  ignemque  inmittere  templis, 

Numina  miscebit  castrensis  flamma  monetae  ;  380 

Castra  super  Tusci  si  ponere  Thybridis  undas, 

Hesperios  audax  veniani  metator  in  agros  ; 

Tu  quoscumque  voles  in  planum  effundere  muros. 

His  aries  actus  disperget  saxa  lacertis, 

Ilia  licet,  penitus  tolli  quam  iusseris  urbem,  385 

Roma  sit."     His  cunctae  simuJ  adsensere  cohortes 

Elatasque  alte,  quaecumque  ad  bella  vocaret. 


1  The  meaning  is  :  "However  arduous  a  campaign  you  require 
of  me,  1  have  the  power  to  go  through  with  it,  as  I  have  proved 
already  in  the  Gallic  wars." 


30 


BOOK   I 

be  right  to  confess  the  truth,  our  complaint  is,  that 
you  have  borne  too  much  and  restrained  your 
strength  too  long.  Was  it  confidence  in  us  that 
you  lacked  ?  While  the  warm  blood  gives  motion 
to  these  breathing  frames,  and  while  our  muscles 
have  strength  to  hurl  the  pilum,  will  you  submit 
to  the  disgrace  of  wearing  the  toga  and  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  Senate?  Is  it  so  wretched  a  fate 
to  be  victorious  in  a  civil  war?  Lead  us  straight- 
way through  the  tribes  of  Scythia,  or  the  inhospitable 
shore  of  the  Syrtes,  or  the  burning  sands  of  thirsty 
Libya — that  we  might  leave  a  conquered  world  at 
our  backs,  these  hands  tamed  with  the  oar  the 
swelling  waves  of  Ocean  and  the  foaming  eddies 
of  the  northern  Rhine — I  must  have  as  much  power 
as  will  to  follow  where  you  lead.^  If  I  hear  your 
trumpet  sound  the  charge  against  any  man,  he  is  no 
countryman  of  mine.  By  your  standards,  victorious 
in  ten  campaigns,  and  by  your  triumphs  I  swear, 
whoever  be  the  foe  whom  you  triumph  over — if  you 
bid  me  bury  my  sword  in  my  brother's  breast  or 
my  father's  throat  or  the  body  of  my  teeming  wife, 
1  will  perform  it  all,  even  if  my  hand  be  reluctant. 
If  you  bid  me  plunder  the  gods  and  fire  their 
temples,  the  furnace  of  the  military  mint  shall  melt 
down  the  statues  of  the  deities  ;  if  you  bid  me  pitch 
the  camp  by  the  waters  of  Etruscan  Tiber,  I  shall 
make  bold  to  invade  the  fields  of  Italy  and  there 
mark  out  the  lines ;  whatever  walls  you  wish  to 
level,  these  arms  shall  ply  the  ram  and  scatter 
the  stones  asunder,  even  if  the  city  you  doom  to 
utter  destruction  be  Rome."  To  this  speech  all  the 
cohorts  together  signified  their  assent,  raising  their 
hands  on  high  and  promising  their  aid  in  any  war 

51 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Promisere  manus.     It  tantus  ad  aethera  clamor, 
Quaintus_,  piniferae  Boreas  cum  Thracius  Ossae 
Rupibus  incubuit,  curvato  robore  pressae  390 

Fit  son  us  aut  rursus  redeuntis  in  aethera  silvae. 
Caesar,  ut  acceptum  tam  prono  milite  bellum 
Fataque  ferre  videt^  ne  quo  languore  moretur 
Fortunam,  sparsas  per  Gallica  rura  cohortes 
Evocat  et  Romam  motis  petit  undique  signis.  395 

Deseruere  cavo  tentoria  fixa  Lemanno 
Castraque,  quae  Vosegi  curvam  super  ardua  ripam 
Pugnaces  pictis  cohibebant  Lingonas  armis. 
Hi  vada  liquerunt  Isarae,  qui,  gurgite  ductus 
Per  tam  multa  suo,  famae  maioris  in  amnem  400 

Lapsus,  ad  aequoreas  nomen  non  pertulit  undas. 
Solvuntur  flavi  longa  statione  Ruteni  ; 
Mitis  Atax  Latias  gaudet  non  ferre  carinas 
Finis  et  Hesperiae,  promoto  limite,  Varus ; 
Quaque  sub  Herculeo  sacratus  nomine  portus  405 

Urguet  rupe  cava  pelagus  :  non  Corus  in  ilium 
lus  habet  aut  Zephyrus,  solus  sua  litora  turbat 
Circius  et  tuta  prohibet  statione  Monoeci : 
Quaque  iacet  litus  dubium,  quod  terra  fretumque 
Vindicat  alternis  vicibus,  cum  funditur  ingens  410 

Oceanus,  vel  cum  refugis  se  fluctibus  aufert. 
Ventus  ab  extremo  pelagus  sic  axe  volutet 
Destituatque  ferens,  an  sidere  mota  secundo 

^  The  name  of  a  local  wind. 

*  The  tides  on  the  Belgian  coast  are  meant  here. 

3« 


BOOK    I 

to  which  Caesar  summoned  them.  Their  shout  rose 
to  heaven  :  as  loud  as,  when  the  Thracian  North  wind 
bears  down  upon  the  cHffs  of  pine-clad  Ossa,  the 
forest  roars  as  the  trees  are  bent  towards  earth,  or 
again  as  they  rebound  into  the  sky. 

When  Caesar  saw  that  war  was  so  eagerly  wel- 
comed by  the  soldiers,  and  that  Fate  was  favourable, 
he  would  not  by  any  slackness  delay  the  course  of 
destiny,  but  summoned  his  detachments  scattered 
through  the  land  of  Gaul  and  moved  his  standards 
from  every  quarter  for  the  march  on  Rome.  The 
soldiers  left  their  tents  pitched  by  Lake  Leman 
among  the  mountains,  and  the  camp  which  crowned 
the  winding  bank  of  the  Vosegus,  and  controlled  the 
warlike  Lingones  with  their  painted  weapons. 
Others  left  the  fords  of  the  Isara — the  river  which 
travels  so  far  with  its  own  waters  and  then  falls 
into  a  more  famous  stream,  losing  its  name  before 
it  reaches  the  sea.  The  fair-haired  Ruthenians 
were  freed  from  the  garrison  that  long  had  held 
them  ;  the  gentle  Atax,  and  the  Varus,  the  boundary 
of  Italy  enlarged,  rejoiced  to  carry  no  Roman  keels ; 
free  was  the  harbour  sacred  under  the  name  of 
Hercules,  whose  hollow  cliff  encroaches  on  the  sea 
— over  it  neither  Corus  nor  Zephyrus  has  power  : 
Circius  ^  alone  stirs  up  the  shore  and  keeps  it  to 
himself  and  bars  the  safe  roadstead  of  Monoecus ; 
and  free  the  strip  of  disputed  coast,  claimed  in 
turn  by  land  and  sea,  when  the  enormous  Ocean 
either  flows  in  or  withdraws  with  ebbing  waves.^ 
Does  some  wind  from  the  horizon  drive  the  sea 
thus  on  and  fail  it  as  it  carries  it  ?  Or  are  the 
,.  waves  of  restless  Tethys  attracted  by  the  second 
of  the  heavenly  bodies  and  stirred  by  the  phases 

33 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tethyos  unda  vagae  lunaribus  aestuet  horis, 

Flammiger  an  Titan,  ut  alentes  hauriat  undas,  415 

Erigat  oceanum  fluctusque  ad  sidera  ducat, 

Quaerite,  quos  agitat  mundi  labor ;  at  mibi  semper 

Til,  quaecumque  moves  tam  crebros  causa  meatus, 

Ut  superi  voluere,  late.     Tunc  rura  Nemetis 

Qui  tenet  et  ripas  Aturi,  qua  litore  curvo  420 

Molliter  admissum  claudit  Tarbellicus  aequor, 

Signa  movet,  gaudetque  amoto  Santonus  boste 

Et  Biturix  longisque  leves  Suessones  in  armis, 

Optimus  excusso  Leucus  llemusque  lacerto. 

Optima  gens  flexis  in  gyrum  Sequana  frenis,  425 

Et  docilis  rector  monstrati  Belga  covinni, 

Arvernique  ausi  Latio  se  fingere  fratres 

Sanguine  ab  Iliaco  populi,  nimiumque  rebellis 

Nervius  et  caesi  pollutus  foedere  Cottae, 

Et  qui  te  laxis  imitantur,  Sarmata,  bracis  430 

Vangiones,  Batavique  truces,  quos  acre  recurvo 

Stridentes  acuere  tubae  ;  qua  Cinga  pererrat 

Gurgite,  qua  Rbodanus  raptum  velocibus  undis 

In  mare  fert  Ararim,  qua  montibus  ardua  summis 

Gens  habitat  cana  pendentes  rupe  Cebennas.  435 

TPictones  inmunes  subigunt  sua  rura  ;  nee  ultra 

instabiles  Turones  circumsita  castra  coercent. 

In  nebulis,  Meduana,  tuis  marcere  perosus 

Andus  iam  ])lacida  Ligeris  recreatur  ab  unda. 

Inclita  Caesareis  Genabos  dissolvitur  alis.]  ^  440 

u  quoque  laetatus  convert!  proelia,  Trevir, 
¥A  nunc  tonse  Ligur,  quondam  per  colla  decore 
Crinibus  effusis  toti  praelate  Comatae  ; 
Et  quibus  inmitis  placatur  sanguine  diro 
Teutates  horrensque  feris  altaribus  Esus  445 

^  436-440  are  certainly   spurious  verses  ;    430-435   are   not 
above  suspicion. 

34 


u^"^  '^; 


BOOK   I 


9^' 


of  the  moon?  Or  does  fire-bearing  Titan,  in  order 
to  quaft"  the  waves  that  feed  him,  lift  up  the  Ocean 
and  draw  its  billows  skyward  ?  1  leave  the  enquiry 
to  those  who  study  the  workings  of  the  universe : 
for  me,  let  the  cause,  whatever  it  be,  that  produces 
such  constant  movements,  remain,  as  the  gods  have 
wished  it  to  remain,  for  ever  hidden.  Gone  are  the 
soldiers  who  held  the  region  of  the  Nemes  and 
banks  of  the  Atyrus,  where  the  Tarbellians  hem  in 
the  sea  that  beats  lightly  against  the  winding  shore. 
The  departure  of  their  foe  brings  joy  to  the 
Santoni  and  Bituriges ;  to  the  Suessones,  nimble  in 
spite  of  their  long  spears  ;  to  the  Leuci  and  Remi 
who  excel  in  hurling  the  javelin,  and  to  the  Sequani 
who  excel  in  wheeling  their  bitted  steeds ;  to  the 
Belgae,  skilled  in  driving  the  war-chariot  invented 
by  others,  and  to  the  Arvernian  clan  who  falsely 
claim  descent  from  Troy  and  brotherhood  with 
Rome ;  to  the  Nervii,  too  prone  to  rebel  against 
us  and  stained  by  breach  of  their  treaty  with 
slaughtered  Cotta ;  to  the  Vangiones,  who  wear 
loose  trousers  like  the  Sarmatians,  and  to  the 
fierce  Batavians,  whose  courage  is  roused  by  the 
blare  of  curved  bronze  trumpets.  There  is  joy 
where  the  waters  of  Cinga  stray,  where  the  Rhone 
snatches  the  Arar  in  swift  current  and  bears  it  to 
the  sea,  and  where  a  tribe  perches  on  the  mountain 
heiglits  and  inhabits  the  snow-covered  rocks  of  the 
Cevennes./  The  Treviri  too  rejoiced  that  the  troops 
were  moved  ;  so  did  the  Ligurians  with  hair  now 
cropped,  though  once  they  excelled  all  the  long- 
haired land  in  the  locks  that  fell  in  beauty  over 
their  necks ;  and  those  who  propitiate  with  horrid 
victims   ruthless  Teutatcs,  and   Esus  whose  savage 

35 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  Taranis  Scythicae  non  mitior  ara  Dianae. 

Vos  quoque,  qui  fortes  aiiimas  belloque  peremptas 

Laudibus  in  longum  vates  dimittitis  aevum, 

Pluriiiia  securi  fudistis  carinina,  Bardi. 

Et  vos  barbaricos  ritus  moremque  sinistrum  450 

Sacrorum,  Dryadae,  positis  repetistis  ab  armis. 

Solis  nosse  deos  et  caeli  numiiia  vobis 

Aut  solis  nescire  datum ;  iiemora  alta  remotis 

Incolitis  lueis ;  vobis  auctoribus  umbrae 

Non  tacitas  Erebi  sedes  Ditisque  profundi  455 

Pallida  regna  petunt :  regit  idem  spiritus  artus 

Orbe  alio ;  longae,  canitis  si  cognita,  vitae 

Mors  media  est.     Certe  populi,  quos  despicit  Arctos, 

Felices  errore  suo,  quos  ille  timorum 

Maximus  baud  urguet,  leti  metus.      Inde  ruendi  460 

In  ferrum  mens  prona  viris  animaeque  capaces 

Mortis,  et  ignavum  rediturae  parcere  vitae. 

Et  vos,  crinigeros  Belgis  ^  arcere  Cay  cos 

Oppositi,  petitis  Romam  Rhenique  feroces 

Deseritis  ripas  et  apertum  gentibus  orbem.  465 

Caesar,  ut  inmensae  conlecto  rebore  vires 
Audendi  maiora  fid  em  fecere,  per  omnem 
Spargitur  Italiam  vicinaque  moenia  conplet. 
Vana  quoque  ad  veros  accessit  fama  timores 
Inrupitque  animos  populi  clademque  futuram  470 

Intulit  et  velox  properantis  nuntia  belli 
Innumeras  solvit  falsa  in  {)raeconia  linguas. 

1  Belgis  Bcntley  :  bellis  MS8. 


^  The  Romans  identified  Teutates,  Esus,  and  Taranis  with 
their  own  Mars,  Mercury,  and  Jupiter. 

2  Their  belief  is  so  unlike  tliat  of  other  peoples  that,  if  they 
are  right,  all  others  are  wrong. 

36 


gUZA         BOOK  T 

shrine  makes  men  shudder,  and  Taranis/  whose  altar 
is  no  more  benign  than  that  of  Scythian  Diana. 
The  Bards  also,  who  by  the  praises  of  their  verse 
transmit  to  distant  ages  the  fame  of  heroes  slain 
in  battle,  poured  forth  at  ease  their  lays  in  abund- 
ance. And  the  Druids,  laying  down  their  arms,  rv^^tJ^ 
went  back  to  the  barbarous  rites  and  weird  cere-  y'^^^^ 
monies  of  their  worship.  (To  them  alone  is  granted  ( 
knowledge — or  ignorance,  it  may  be — of  gods  and 
celestial  powers  ^  ;  tiiey  dwell  in  deep  fgf);^ts  with 
sequestered  groves  ;  they  teach  that  the  soul  does 
not  descend  to  the  silent  land  of  Erebus  and  the 
sunless  realm  of  Dis  below,  but  that  the  same  breath 
still  governs  the  limbs  in  a  different  scene.  If  their 
tale  be  true,  death  is  but  a  point  in  the  midst  of 
continuous  life.  Truly  the  nations  on  whom  the 
Pole  star  looks  down  are  happily  deceived  ;  for  they 
are  free  from  that  king  of  terrors,  the  fear  of  death. 
This  gives  the  warrior  his  eagerness  to  rush  upon 
the  steel,  his  courage  to  face  death,  and  his  con- 
viction that  it  is  cowardly  to  be  careful  of  a  life 
that  will  come  back  to  him  again.)  The  soldiers 
also  set  to  keep  the  long-haired  Cayci  away  from 
the  Belgae,  left  the  savage  banks  of  the  Rhine  and 
made  for  Home ;  and  the  empire  was  left  bare  to 
foreign  nations. 

When  Caesar's  might  was  gathered  together  and 
his  huge  forces  encouraged  him  to  larger  enterprise, 
he  spread  all  over  Italy  and  occupied  the  nearest 
towns.  False  report,  swift  harbinger  of  imminent 
war,  was  added  to  reasonable  fears,  invading  men's 
minds  with  presentiments  of  disaster,  and  loosing 
countless  tongues  to  spread  lying  tales.  The 
messengers  report   that  horsemen  are  charging  in 

37 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Est  qui,  tauriferis  ubi  se  Mevania  campis 

Explicat,  audaces  ruere  in  certamina  turmas 

Adferat,  et  qua  Nar  Tiberino  inlabitur  amni  475 

Barbaricas  saevi  discurrere  Caesaris  alas  ; 

Ipsum  omiies  aquilas  conlataque  signa  ferentem 

Agmine  non  uno  densisque  incedere  castris. 

Nee  qualem  meminere  vident :  maiorque  ferusque 

Mentibus  occurrit  victoque  inmanior  hoste.  480 

Hunc  inter  Rhenum  populos  Albimque  ^  iacentes, 

Finibus  Arctois  patriaque  a  sede  revolsos, 

Pone  sequi,  iussamque  feris  a  gentibus  urbem 

Roniano  spectante  rapi.     Sic  quisque  pavendo 

Dat  vires  famae,  nulloque  auctore  malorum,  485 

Quae  finxere,  timent.     Nee  solum  volgus  inani 

Percussum  terrore  pavet ;  sed  curia  et  ipsi 

Sedibus  exiluere  patres,  invisaque  belli 

ConsulibusTugiens  mandat  decreta  senatus. 

Turn,  quae  tuta  petant  et  quae  metuenda  relinquant  490 

Incerti,  quo  quemque  fugae  tulit  impetus^  urguet 

Praecipitem  populum,  serieque  haerentia  longa 

Agmina  prorumpunt.     Credas  aut  tecta  nefandas 

Corripuisse  faces  aut  iam  quatiente  ruina 

Nutantes  pendere  domos  :  sic  turba  per  urbem  495 

Praecipiti  Ijmphata  gradu,  velut  unica  rebus 

Spes  foret  adflictis  patrios  excedere  muros, 

Inconsulta  ruit.     Qualis,  cum  turbidus  Auster 

Reppulit  a  Libycis  inmensum  Syrtibus  aequor 

Fractaque  veliferi  sonuerunt  pondera  mali,  500 

Desilit  in  fluctus  deserta  puppe  magister 

»  Albimque  leverus  :  Alpemque  MSS. 


*  I.e.  the  Germans. 

38 


BOOK   I 

fierce  combat  on  the  wide  plains  that  breed 
Mevania's  bulls ;  that  the  foreign  cavalry  of  fierce 
Caesar  are  riding  to  and  fro  where  the  Nar  joins  the 
Tiber ;  and  that  their  leader,  advancing  all  his 
collected  eagles  and  standards,  is  marching  on  with 
many  a  column  and  crowded  camps.  Men's  present 
view  of  him  differs  from  their  recollection  :  they 
think  of  him  as  a  monster,  more  savage  than  the  foe 
he  has  conquered.  Men  say  that  the  tribes  which 
dwell  between  the  Rhine  and  the  Elbe,^  uprooted 
from  their  northern  homes,  are  following  in  his  rear  ; 
and  that  the  word  has  gone  forth  that  Rome,  under 
the  eyes  of  the  Romans,  shall  be  sacked  by  savage 
nations.  Thus  each  by  his  fears  adds  strength  to 
rumour,  and  all  dread  the  unconfirmed  dangers 
invented  by  themselves.  Nor  was  the  populace  alone 
stricken  with  groundless  fear.  The  Senate  House 
was  moved;  the  Fathers  themselves  sprang  up  from 
their  seats  ;  and  the  Senate  fled,  deputing  to  the 
consuls  the  dreaded  declaration  of  war.  Then, 
knowing  not  where  to  seek  refuge  or  where  to 
flee  danger,  each  treads  on  the  heels  of  the  hasten- 
ing population,  wherever  impetuous  flight  carries 
him.  Forth  they  rush  in  long  unbroken  columns ; 
one  might  think  that  impious  firebrands  had  seized 
hold  of  the  houses,  or  that  the  buildings  were  sway- 
ing and  tottering  in  an  earthquake  shock.  For  the 
frenzied  crowd  rushed  headlong  tlirough  the  city 
with  no  fixed  purpose,  and  as  if  the  one  chance  of 
relief  from  ruin  were  to  get  outside  their  native 
walls.  So,  when  the  stormy  South  wind  has  driven 
tiie  vast  sea  from  the  Syrtes  of  Libya  and  the  heavy 
mast  with  its  sails  has  come  crashing  down,  the 
skipper  abandons  the  helm  and  leaps  down  with  his 

39 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Navitaque,  et  nondum  sparsa  conpage  carinae 

Naufragium  sibi  quisque  facit  ;  sic  urbe  relicta 

In  helium  fugitur.      Nullum  iam  languidus  aevo 

Evaluit  revocare  parens  coniunxve  maritum  503 

Fletibus,  aut  patrii,  dubiae  dum  vota  salutis 

Conciperent,  tenuere  lares  :  nee  limine  quisquam 

Haesit,  et  extreme  tunc  forsitan  urbis  amatae 

Plenus  abit  visa  ;  ruit  inrevocabile  volgus. 

O  faciles  dare  summa  deos  eademque  tueri  610 

Difficiles  !      Urbem  populis  victisque  frequentem 

Gentibus  et  generis,  coeat  si  turba,  capacem 

Humani  facilem  venture  Caesare  praedani 

fgnavae  liquere  manus.     Cum  pressus  ab  lioste 

Clauditur  externis  miles  Homanus  in  oris,  516 

EfFugit  exiguo  nocturna  pericula  vallo, 

Et  subitus  rapti  munimine  caes})itis  agger 

Praebet  secures  intra  tentoria  somnos  : 

Tu  tantum  audito  bellorum  nomine,  Roma, 

Desereris  ;  nox  una  tuis  non  credita  muris.  520 

Danda  tamen  venia  est  tantorum,  danda,  pavorum  : 

Pompeio  fugiente  timent.     Tum,  ne  qua  tiituri 

Spes  saltem  trepidas  mentes  levet,  addita  fati 

Peioris  manifesta  fides,  superique  minaces 

Prodigiis  terras  inplerunt,  aetiiera,  pontum.  625 

Ignota  obscurae  viderunt  sidera  noctes 

Ardentemque  polum  flammis  caeloque  volantes 

Obliquas  per  inane  faces  crinemque  timendi 

Sideris  et  terris  mutantem  regna  cometen. 

Fulgura  fallaci  micuerunt  crebra  sereno,  530 

40 


gUKA:^      BOOK   I 

crew  into  the  sea,  and  each  man  makes  shipwreck 
for  himself  before  the  planks  of  the  hull  are  broken 
asunder.  Thus  Rome  is  abandoned,  and  flight  is  the 
preparation  for  war.  No  aged  father  had  the  power 
to  keep  back  his  son,  nor  weeping  wife  her  husband  ; 
none  was  detained  by  the  ancestral  gods  of  his 
household,  till  he  could  frame  a  prayer  for  preserva- 
tion from  danger ;  none  lingered  on  his  threshold 
ere  he  departed,  to  satiate  his  eyes  with  the  sight  of 
the  city  he  loved  and  might  never  see  again. 
Nothing  could  keep  back  the  wild  rush  of  the 
people.  How  ready  are  the  gods  to  grant  supremacy 
to  men,  and  how  unready  to  maintain  it !  Rome 
that  was  crowded  with  citizens  and  conquered 
peoples,  Rome  that  could  contain  the  human  race 
assembled,  was  left  by  coward  hands  an  easy  prey  to 
invading  Caesar.  When  the  Ronjan  soldier  is  closely 
besieged  by  the  foenian  in  a  distant  land,  he  defies 
the  |)erils  of  the  liight  behind  a  slender  palisade ; 
hastily  he  throws  up  the  sods,  and  the  protection  of 
his  mound  lets  him  sleep  untroubled  in  his  tent. 
But  Rome  is  abandoned  as  soon  as  the  word  "war" 
is  heard ;  her  walls  are  no  safeguard  for  a  single 
night.  Yet  such  panic  fear  must  be  forgiven; 
Ponipey  in  flight  gives  cause  for  terror.  Then,  that 
no  hope  even  for  the  future  might  relieve  anxiety, 
clear  proof  was  given  of  worse  to  come,  and  the 
menacing  gods  filled  earth,  sky,  and  sea  with 
portents.  The  darkness  of  night  saw  stars  before 
unknown,  the  sky  blazing  with  fire,  lights  shooting 
athwart  the  void  of  heaven,  and  the  hair  of  the 
baleful  star — the  comet  which  portends  change  to 
monarchs.  The  lightning  flashed  incessantly  in  a 
sky  of  delusive  clearness,  and  the  fire,  flickering  in 

41 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  varias  ignis  denso  dedit  acre  formas, 

Nunc  iaculum  longo,  nunc  sparso  lumine  lam  pas. 

Emicuit  caelo  taciturn  sine  nubibus  uUis 

Fulmen  et  Arctois  rapiens  de  partibus  ignem 

Percussit  Latiare  caput,  stellaeque  minores  635 

Per  vacuum  solitae  noctis  decurrere  tempus 

In  medium  venere  diem,  cornuque  coacto 

lam  Phoebe  toto  fratrem  cum  redderet  orbe, 

Terrarum  subita  percussa  expalluit  umbra. 

Ipse  caput  medio  Titan  cum  ferret  Olympo,  540 

Condidit  ardentes  atra  caligine  currus 

Involvitque  orbem  tenebris  gentesque  coegit 

Desperare  diem  ;  qualem  fugiente  per  ortus 

Sole  Thyesteae  noctem  duxere  Mycenae. 

Ora  ferox  Siculae  laxavit  Mulciber  Aetnae  545 

Nee  tulit  in  caelum  flammas,  sed  vertice  prono 

Ignis  in  Hesperium  cecidit  latus.      Atra  Charybdis 

Sanguineum  fundo  torsit  mare.      Flebile  saevi 

Latravere  canes.      Vestali  raptus  ab  ara 

Ignis,  et  ostendens  confectas  flamma  Latinas  550 

Scinditur  in  partes  geminoque  cacumine  surgit 

Thebanos  imitata  rogos.     Tum  cardine  tellus 

Subsedit,  veteremque  iugis  nuta'iitibus  Alpes 

Discussere  nivem.     Tetliys  maioribus  undis 

Hesperiam  Calpen  summumque  inplevit  Atlanta.        555 

Indigetes  flevisse  deos  urbisque  laborem 

Testatos  sudore  Lares,  delapsaque  tempi  is 

Dona  suis,  dirasque  diem  foedasse  volucres 

Accipimus,  silvisque  feras  sub  nocte  relictis 

Audaces  media  posuisse  cubilia  Roma.  560 

^  Alba  Loiiga,  the  ancient  centre  of  the  Latin  League,  is  meant. 

2  When  the  Theban  princes,  Eteocles  and  Polynices,  were 
burned  on  the  same  pyre,  the  flame  parted  in  two,  signifying 
their  enmity  in  their  lifetime. 

42 


BOOK   I 

the  heavens,  took  various  shapes  in  the  thick  atmo- 
sphere, now  flaring  far  like  a  javelin,  and  now  like  a 
torch  with  fan-like  tail.  A  thunderbolt,  without 
noise  or  any  clouds,  gathered  fire  from  the  North 
and  smote  the  capital  of  Latium.^  The  lesser  stars, 
which  are  wont  to  move  along  the  sunless  sky  by 
night,  now  became  visible  at  noon.  The  moon, 
when  her  horns  were  united  in  one  and  she  was 
reflecting  her  brother  luminary  with  her  disk  at  the 
full,  suddenly  was  smitten  by  the  earth's  shadow  and 
grew  dim.  The  sun  himself,  while  rearing  his  head 
in  the  zenith,  hid  his  burning  chariot  in  black  dark- 
ness and  veiled  his  sphere  in  gloom,  forcing  mankind 
to  despair  of  daylight;  even  such  a  darkness  crept 
over  Mycenae,  the  city  of  Thyestes,  when  the  sun 
fled  back  to  where  he  rose.  In  Sicily  fierce  Mulciber 
opened  wide  the  mouths  of  Etna ;  nor  did  he  lift  its 
flames  skyward,  but  the  fire  bowed  its  crest  and  fel 
on  the  Italian  shore.  Black  Charybdis  churned  up 
waves  of  blood  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  the 
angry  bark  of  Scylla's  dogs  sank  into  a  whine.  From 
Vesta's  altar  the  fire  vanished  suddenly;  and  the 
bonfire  which  marks  the  end  of  the  Latin  Festival 
split  into  two  and  rose,  like  the  pyre  of  the  Thebans,* 
with  double  crest.  The  earth  also  stopped  short 
upon  its  axis,  and  the  Alps  dislodged  the  snow  of 
ages  from  their  tottering  summits  ;  and  the  sea  filled 
western  Calpe  and  remotest  Atlas  with  a  flood  of 
waters.  If  tales  are  true,  the  national  deities  shed 
tears,  the  sweating  of  the  household  gods  bore  wit- 
ness to  the  city's  woe,  offerings  fell  from  their  place 
in  the  temples,  birds  of  ill  omen  cast  a  gloom  upon 
the  daylight,  and  wild  beasts,  leaving  the  woods  by 
night,  made  bold  to  place  their  lairs  in  the  heart  of 

43 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

1  um  pecudum  faciles  humana  ad  murmura  linguae, 
Monstrosique  hominum  partus  iiumeroque  modoque 
Membrorum,  matremque  suus  conterruit  infans  ; 
Diraque  per  popiilum  Cumanae  carmina  vatis 
Volgantur.     Tum^  quos  sectis  Bellona  lacertis  565 

Saeva  movet,  cecinere  deos,  crinemque  rotantes 
Sanguineum  populis  ulularunt  tristia  Galli. 
Coiij>ositis  plenae  gemuerunt  ossibus  urnae. 
Turn  fragor  armor  um  magnaeque  per  avia  voces 
Auditae  iiemorum  et  venientes  comminus  umbrae.      57t 
Quique  colunt  iunctos  extremis  moenibus  agros, 
Diffugiunt :  ingens  urbem  cingebat  Erinys 
Excutieus  pronam  flagranti  vertice  pinum 
Stridentesque  comas,  Thebanam  qualis  Agaven 
Inpulit  aut  saevi  contorsit  tela  Lycurgi  51 L 

Eumenis,  aut  qualem  iussu  lunonis  iniquae 
Horruit  Alcides,  viso  iam  Dite,  Megaeram. 
Insonuere  tubae,  et  quanto  clamore  cohortes 
Miscentur,  tantum  nox  atra  silentibus  auris 
Edidit.      E  medio  visi  consurgere  Campo  58( 

Tristia  Sullani  cecinere  oracula  manes, 
ToUentemque  caput  gelidas  Anienis  ad  undas 
Agricolae  Marium  fracto  fugere  sepulchre. 

Haec  propter  placuit  Tuscos  de  more  vetusto 
Acciri  vates.     Quorum  qui  maximus  aevo  58i 

Arruns  incoluit  desertae  moenia  Lucae, 
Fulminis  edoctus  motus  venasque  calentes 
Fibrarum  et  monitus  errantis  in  acre  pinnae, 


*  The  priests  of  the  Great  Mother. 

*  She  had  snakes  for  hair. 

3  A  Thracian  king  who  attacked  Dionysus. 


44 


BOOK   I 

Rome.  Also,  the  tongues  of  brutes  became  capable 
of  human  speech  ;  and  women  gave  birth  to  creatures 
monstrous  in  the  size  and  number  of  their  limbs,  and 
mothers  were  appalled  by  the  babes  they  bore  ;  and 
boding  prophecies  spoken  by  the  Sibyl  of  Cumae 
passed  from  mouth  to  mouth.  Again,  the  worshippers 
who  gash  their  arms,  inspired  by  fierce  Bellona 
chanted  of  heaven's  wrath,  and  the  Galli  ^ 
whirled  round  their  gory  locks  and  shrieked  disaster 
to  the  nations.  Groans  came  forth  from  urns  filled 
with  the  ashes  of  dead  men.  The  crash  of  arms  was 
heard  also,  and  loud  cries  in  pathless  forests,  and  the 
noise  of  spectral  armies  closing  in  battle.  From  the 
fields  nearest  the  outside  walls  the  inhabitants  fled 
in  all  directions;  for  the  giant  figure  of  a  Fury 
stalked  round  the  city,  shaking  her  hissing  ^  hair 
and  a  pine-tree  whose  flaming  crest  she  held  down- 
wards. Such  was  the  Fury  that  maddened  Agave  at 
Thebes  or  launched  the  bolts  of  fierce  Lycurgus^; 
and  such  was  Megaera,  when,  as  the  minister  of 
Juno's  cruelty,  she  terrified  Hercules,  though  he  had 
seen  Hell  already.  Trumpets  sounded  ;  and  dark 
nights,  when  winds  were  still,  gave  forth  a  shouting 
loud  as  when  armies  meet.  The  ghost  of  Sulla  was 
seen  to  rise  in  the  centre  of  the  Campus  and  prophe- 
sied disaster,  while  Marius  burst  his  sepulchre  and 
scattered  the  country-people  in  fligJit  by  rearing  his 
head  beside  the  cool  waters  of  the  Anio. 

Therefore  it  was  resolved  to  follow  ancient  custom 
and  summon  seers  from  Etruria.  The  oldest  of  these 
was  Arruns  who  dwelt  in  the  deserted  city  of  Luca ; 
the  course  of  the  thunderbolt,  the  marks  on  entrails 
yet  warm,  and  the  warning  of  each  wing  that  strays 
through  the  sky,  had  no  secrets  for  him.     First,  he 

45 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Monstra  iubet  primum,  quae  nullo  semine  discors 
Protulerat  natura,  rapi  sterilique  nefandos 
Ex  utero  fetus  infaustis  urere  flammis. 
Mox  iubet  et  totam  pavidis  a  civibus  urbem 
Ambiri  et,  festo  purgantes  moenia  lustro, 
Longa  per  extremes  pomeria  cingere  fines 
Pontifices,  sacri  quibus  est  permissa  potestas. 
Turba  minor  ritu  sequitur  succincta  Gabino, 
V^estalemque  chorum  ducit  vittata  sacerdos, 
Troianam  soli  cui  fas  vidisse  Minervam  ; 
Tum,  qui  fata  deum  secretaque  carmina  servant 
Et  lotam  parvo  revocant  Almone  Cybeben, 
Et  doctus  volucres  augur  servare  sinistras 
Septemvirque  epulis  festis  Titiique  sodales 
Et  Salius  laeto  portans  aneilia  coUo 
Et  tollens  apicem  generoso  vertice  flamen. 
Dumque  illi  effusam  longis  anfractibus  urbem 
Circumeunt,  Arruns  dispersosTuImlhis  ignes 
Colligit  et  terrae  maesto  cum  murmure  condit 
Datque  locis  numen  ;  sacris  tunc  admovet  aris 
Electa  cervice  marem.     lam  fundere  Bacchum 
Coeperat  obliquoque  molas  inducere  cultro, 
Inpatiensque  diu  non  grati  victima  sacri, 
Cornua  succincti  premerent  cum  torva  ministri, 
Deposito  victum  praebebat  poplite  collum. 
Nee  cruor  emicuit  solitus,  sed  volnere  largo 
Diffusum  rutilo  dirum  pro  sanguine  virus. 
Palluit  attonitus  sacris  feralibus  Arruns 


^  The  offspring  of  a  mule  would  answer  this  description. 

*  The  sacred  boundary  of  the  city. 

3  The  quiiidemnviri,  or  College  of  Fifteen. 


46 


BOOK    I 

bids  the  destruction  of  monsters,  which  nature,  at 
variance  with  herself,  had  brought  forth  from  no 
seed,  and  orders  that  the  abominable  fruit  of  a 
barren  womb^  shall  be  burned  with  wood  of  evil 
omen.  Next,  at  his  bidding  the  scared  citizens 
march  right  round  the  city;  and  the  pontiffs,  who 
have  licence  to  perform  the  ceremony,  purify  the 
walls  with  solemn  lustration  and  move  round  the 
outer  limit  of  the  long  pomerium.^  Behind  them 
come  the  train  of  inferior  priests,  close-girt  in  Gabine 
fashion.  The  band  of  Vestals  is  led  by  a  priestess 
with  a  fillet  on  her  brows,  to  whom  alone  it  is 
permitted  to  set  eyes  on  Trojan  Minerva ;  next  are 
those  ^  who  preserve  the  prophecies  of  the  gods 
and  mystic  hymns,  and  who  recall  Cybele  from  her 
bath  in  the  little  river  Almo ;  then  the  Augurs, 
skilled  to  observe  birds  flying  on  the  left,  the  Seven 
who  hold  festival  at  banquets,  the  Titian  guild,  the 
Salii  who  bear  the  Shields  in  triumph  on  their 
shoulders,  and  the  Flamen,  raising  aloft  on  his  high- 
born head  the  pointed  cap.  Wliile  the  long  pro- 
cession winds  its  way  round  the  wide  city,  Arruns 
collects  the  scattered  fires  of  the  thunderbolt  and 
hides  them  in  the  earth  with  doleful  muttering. 
He  gives  sanctity  to  the  spot,  and  next  brings  near  to 
the  holy  altar  a  bull  with  neck  chosen  for  the  sacri- 
fice. When  he  began  to  pour  wine  and  to  sprinkle 
meal  with  slanting  knife,  the  victim  struggled  long 
against  the  unacceptable  sacrifice ;  but  when  the 
high-girt  attendants  thrust  down  its  formidable 
horns,  it  sank  to  the  ground  and  offered  its  helpless 
neck  to  the  blow.  No  red  blood  spouted  forth  from  ' 
the  gaping  wound,  but  a  slimy  liquid,  strange  and 
dreadful,  came  out  instead.    Appalled  by  the  funereal 

47 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Atque  iram  superum  raptis  quaesivit  in  extis. 
Terruit  ipse  color  vatem  ;  nam  pallida  taetris 
Viscera  tincta  notis  gelidoque  infecta  cruore 
Plurimus  asperso  variabat  sanguine  liver.  620 

Cernit  tabe  iecur  madidum,  venasque  minaces 
Hostili  de  parte  videt.      Pulmonis  anheli 
Fibra  latet,  parvusque  secat  vitalia  limes. 
Cor  iacet,  et  saniem  per  hiantes  viscera  rimas 
Emittunt,  produntque  suas  omenta  latebras.  625 

Quodque  nefas  nullis  inpune  apparuit  extis, 
Ecce,^  videt  capiti  fibrarum  increscere  molem 
Alterius  capitis.      Pars  aegra  et  marcida  pendet, 
Pars  micat  et  celeri  venas  movet  inproba  pulsu. 
His  ubi  concepit  magnorum  fata  malorum,  630 

Exclamat :  "  Vix  fas,  superi,  quaecumque  movetis, 
Prodere  me  populis ;  nee  enim  tibi,  summe,  litavi, 
luppiter,  hoc  sacrum,  caesique  in  pectora  tauri 
Inferni  venere  dei.     Non  fanda  timemus  ; 
Sed  venient  maiora  metu.      Di  visa  secundent,  635 

Et  fibris  sit  nulla  fides  ;  sed  conditor  artis 
Finxerit  ista  Tages."     Elex^^sic  omina  Tuscus 
Involvens  multaque  tegens  arabage  canebat. 
At  Figulus,  cui  cura  deos  secretaque  caeli 
Nosse  fiiit,  quem  non  stellarum  Aegyptia  Memphis 
Aequaret  visu  numerisque  sequentibus^  astra,  640 

"  Aut  hie  errat  "  ait  "  nulla  cum  lege  per  aevum 

^  sequentibus  Bentley  :  moventibus  MSS. 

*  Nigidius  Figulus,  a  learned  Roman,  described  by  Heitland 
as  "  a  living  encyclopaedia  of  errors." 

48 


BOOK    I 

rite,  Arruns  turned  pale  and  snatched  up  the  entrails, 
to  seek  there  the  anger  of  the  gods.  Their  very 
colour  alarmed  him  :  the  sickly  organs  were  marked 
with  malignant  spots,  coloured  with  congealed  gore, 
and  chequered  all  over  with  dark  patches  and  blood- 
spots.  He  saw  the  liver  flabby  with  corruption  and 
with  boding  streaks  in  its  hostile  half.  The  ex- 
tremity of  the  panting  lung  is  invisible,  and  a  puny 
t~'i  membrane  divides  the  vital  organs.  The  heart  is 
flattened,  the  entrails  exude  corrupted  blood  through 
gaping  cracks,  and  the  caul  reveals  its  hiding-place. 
And  lo!  he  sees  a  horror  which  never  yet  was  seen 
in  a  victim's  entrails  without  mischief  following :  a 
great  second  lobe  is  growing  upon  the  lobe  of  the 
liver ;  one  half  droops  sickly  and  flabby,  while 
the  other  throbs  fast  and  drives  the  veins  with 
rapid  beat.  When  thus  he  had  grasped  the  pre- 
diction of  great  disaster,  "  Scarce  may  I,"  he  cried 
aloud,  "  reveal  to  men's  ears  all  the  ills  that  the  gods 
are  preparing.  Not  with  mightiest  Jupiter  has  this 
my  sacrifice  found  favour  ;  but  the  infernal  gods  have 
entered  into  the  body  of  the  slaughtered  bull. 
What  we  fear  is  unspeakable ;  but  the  sequel  will  be 
worse  tlian  our  fears.  May  the  gods  give  a  favour- 
able turn  to  what  we  have  witnessed !  May  the 
entrails  prove  false,  and  may  the  lore  of  our  founder 
Tages  turn  out  a  mere  imposture !  "  Thus  the 
Tuscan  told  the  future,  veiling  it  in  obscurity  and 
hiding  it  with  much  ambiguity. 
\  Figulus  ^  also  spoke,  Figulus,  whose  study  it  was 
'  to  know  the  gods  and  the  secrets  of  the  sky,  Figulus, 
whom  not  even  Egyptian  Memphis  could  match  in 
observation  of  the  heavens  and  calculations  that  keep 
pace    with    the    stars.     "  Either,"    said    he,    "  this 

49 

VOL.  I.  n 


M.   ANNAEUS  LUCANUS 

Miindus,  et  incerto  discurrunt  sidera  motu, 

A  lit,  si  fata  movent,  iirbi  generique  paratur 

Humano  mabura  lues.     Terraene  dehiscent  645 

Subsidentque  urbes,  an  toilet  fervidus  aer 

Temperiem  ?  s^g^tes  tellus  infida  negabit  ? 

Onmis  an  effusis  miseebitur  unda  venenis  ? 

Quod  cladis  genus,  o  superi,  qua  peste  paratis 

Saevitiam  ?     Extremi  multorum  tempus  in  unum       650 

Convenere  dies.     Summo  si  frigida  caelo 

Stella  nocens  nigros  Saturni  accenderet  ignes, 

Deucalioneos  fudisset  Aquarius  imbres, 

Totaque  diffuso  latuisset  in  aequore  tellus. 

Si  saevum  radiis  Nemeaeum,  Phoebe,  Leonem  656 

Nunc  premeres,  toto  fluerent  incendia  mundo 

Succensusque  tuis  flagrasset  curribus  aether. 

Hi  cessant  ignes.     Tu,  qui  flagrante  minacem 

Scorpion  incendis  cauda  chelasque  peruris, 

Quid  tantum,  Gradive,  paras  ?  nam  mitis  in  alto         660 

luppiter  occasu  premitur,  Venerisque  salubre 

Sidus  lifibet,  motuque  celer  Cyllenius  haeret, 

Et  caelum  Mars  solus  habet.     Cur  signa  meatus 

Deseruere  suos  mundoque  obscura  feruntur, 

Ensiferi  nimium  fulget  latus  Orionis  ?  665 

Inminet  arniorum  rabies,  ferrique  potestas 

Confundet  ius  omne  manu,  scelerique  nefando 

Nomen  erit  virtus,  multosque  exibit  in  annos 

Hie  furor.     Et  superos  quid  prodest  poscere  finem  ? 

Cum  domino  pax  ista  venit.      Due,  Roma,  malorum     670 

^  Their  horoscopes  told  him  that  a  great  number  of  men, 
born  on  different  dates,  were  to  die  at  the  same  time. 

50 


=    •  BOOK    I 

universe  strays  for  ever  governed  by  no  law,  and  the 
stars  move  to  and  fro  with  course  unfixed  ;  or  else, 
if  they  are  guided  by  destiny,  speedy  destruction  is 
preparing  for  Rome  and  for  mankind.  Will  the  earth 
gape  and  cities  be  swallowed  up  ?  Or  will  burning 
heat  destroy  our  temperate  clime  ?  Will  the  soil 
break  faith  and  deny  its  produce  ?  Or  will  water 
everywhere  be  tainted  with  streams  of  poison  ? 
What  kind  of  disaster  are  the  gods  preparing  ? 
What  form  of  ruin  will  their  anger  assume?  The 
lives  ot"  multitudes  are  doomed  to  end  together.^  If 
Saturn,  that  cold  baleful  planet,  were  now  kindling 
his  black  fires  in  the  zenith,  then  Aquarius  would 
have  poured  down  such  rains  as  Deucalion  saw,  and 
the  whole  earth  would  have  been  hidden  under  the 
waste  of  waters.  Or  if  the  sun's  rays  were  now 
passing  over  the  fierce  Lion  of  Nemea,  then  fire 
would  stream  over  all  the  world,  and  the  upper  air 
would  be  kindled  and  consumed  by  the  sun's  chariot. 
Tliese  heavenly  bodies  are  not  active  now.  But 
Mars — what  dreadful  purpose  has  he,  when  he 
kindles  the  Scorpion  menacing  with  fiery  tail  and 
scorches  its  claws  ?  For  the  benign  star  of  Jupiter 
is  hidden  deep  in  the  West,  the  healthful  planet 
Venus  is  dim,  and  Mercury's  swift  motion  is  stayed ; 
Mars  alone  lords  it  in  heaven.  Why  have  the  con- 
stellations fled  from  their  courses,  to  move  darkling 
through  the  sky,  while  the  side  of  sword-girt  Orion 
shines  all  too  bri*:;ht  ?  The  madness  of  war  is  upon 
us,  when  the  power  of  the  sword  shall  violently 
upset  all  legality,  and  atrocious  crime  shall  be  called 
heroism.  This  frenzy  will  last  for  many  years  ;  and 
it  is  useless  to  pray  Heaven  that  it  may  end  :  when 
peace  comes,  a  tyrant  will  come  with  it.     Let  Rome 

51 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Continuam  seriem  clademque  in  tempora  multa 
Extrahe,  civili  tantum  iam  libera  bello." 

Terruerant  satis  haec  pavidam  praesagia  plebem ; 
Sed  maiora  premunt.      Nam  qualis  vertice  Pindi 
Edonis  Ogygio  decurrit  plena  Lyaeo,  675 

Talis  et  attonitam  rapitur  niatrona  per  urbem 
Vocibus  his  prodens  iirguentem  pectora  Phoebum  : 
"  Quo  feror^  o  Paean  ?  qua  me  super  aetliera  raptam 
Constituis  terra  ?  video  Pangaea  nivosis 
Cana  iiigis  latosque  Haemi  sub  rupe  Pliilippos.  680 

Quis  furor  hie,  o  Phoebe,  doce,  quo  tela  manusque 
Romanae  miscent  acies,  bellumque  sine  hoste  est? 
Quo  diversa  feror  ?  primos  me  ducis  in  ortus, 
Qua  mare  Lagei  mutatur  gurgite  Nili  : 
Hunc  ego,  fluminea  deformis  truncus  harena  685 

Qui  iacet,  agnosco.     Dubiam  super  aequora  Syrtim 
Arentemque  feror  Libyen,  quo  tristis  Enyo 
Transtulit  Emathias  acies.      Nunc  desuper  Alpis 
Nubiferae  colles  atque  aeriam  Pyrenen 
Abripimur.      Patriae  sedes  remeamus  in  urbis,  690 

Inpiaque  in  medio  peraguntur  bella  senatu. 
Consurgunt  partes  iterum,  totumque  per  orbem 
Rursus  eo.      Nova  da  mihi  cernere  litora  ponti 
Telluremque  novam  ;  vidi  iam,  Phoebe,  Philippos." 
Haec  ait,  et  lasso  iacuit  deserta  furore.  695 


*  She  means  Pharsalia ;  but  it  is  a  convention  with  the 
Roman  poets,  from  Virgil  onwards,  to  speak  of  Pharsalia  and 
riiilippi  as  fought  on  the  same  ground  :   see  1.  694. 

2  Pompey. 

^  She  has  a  vision  of:  (1)  Pharsalia,  fought  in  48  B.C.  ; 
(2)  Thapsus  (46) ;   (3)  Munda  (45) ;   (4)  the  murder  of  Caesar 


52 


BOOK   1 

prolong  the  unbroken  series  of  suffering  and  draw 
out  her  agony  for  ages :  only  while  civil  war  lasts, 
shall  she  henceforth  be  free." 

These  forebodings  were  enough  to  alarm  and 
terrify  the  populace ;  but  worse  was  close  at  hand . 
For,  as  a  Bacchanal,  filled  with  Theban  Lyaeus, 
speeds  down  from  the  summit  of  Pindus,  in  such 
guise  a  matron  rushed  through  the  appalled  city, 
revealing  by  these  cries  the  pressure  of  Phoebus 
upon  her  bosom  :  "  Whither  am  I  borne,  O  Paean,  in 
haste  across  the  sky  ?  In  what  land  do  you  set  my 
feet  ?  I  see  Pangaeus  white  with  snow-clad  ridges, 
I  see  Philippi  ^  spread  out  beneath  the  crag  of 
Haemus  :  say,  Plioebus,  what  madness  is  this  that 
drives  Romans  to  fight  Romans;  what  war  is  this 
without  a  foe  ?  Whither  next  am  I  borne  to  a 
different  quarter?  You  take  me  to  the  far  East, 
where  the  waters  of  Egyptian  Nile  stain  the  sea  : 
him  2  I  recognise,  that  headless  corpse  lying  on  the 
river  sands.  The  grim  goddess  of  war  has  shifted 
the  ranks  of  Pharsalia  across  the  sea  to  treacherous 
Syrtis  and  parched  Libya  :  thither  also  am  I  carried. 
Next  I  am  spirited  away  over  the  cloud-capped  Alps 
and  soaring  Pyrenees.  Back  I  return  to  my  native 
city,  where  the  civil  war  finds  its  end  in  the  very 
Senate  House.  Again  the  factions  raise  their  heads  ; 
again  I  make  the  circuit  of  the  earth.  Grant  me, 
Phoebus,  to  behold  a  different  shore  and  a  different 
land  :  Philippi  I  have  seen  already."  ^  So  she  spoke 
and  fell  down,  abandoned  by  the  frenzy  that  now  was 
spent. 

(44) ;  (5)  the  later  civil  war,  including  the  battle  of 
Philippi  (42).     "  Philippi  "  again  means  Pharsalia. 

53 


BOOK  II 


LIBER   SECUNDUS 

Iamque  irae  patuere  deum,  manifestaque  belli 

Signa  dedit  mundus^  legesque  et  foedera  rerum 

Praescia  monstrifero  vertit  natura  tumultu 

Indixitque  nefas.     Cur  banc  tibi,  rector  Olympi, 

Solliqitis  visum  mortalibus  addere  curam,  5 

Noscant  venturas  ut  dira  per  omina  clades? 

Sive  parens  rerum,  cum  primum  informia  regna 

Materiamque  rudem  flanima  cedente  recepit, 

Fixit  in  aeternum  causas,  qua  cuncta  coercet 

Se  quoque  lege  tenens,  et  saecula  iussa  ferenteni  10 

Fatorum  inmoto  divisit  limite  mundum  ; 

Sive  nihil  positum  est  sed  fors  incerta  vagatur 

P'ertque  refertque  vices,  et  habet  mortalia  casus  : 

Sit  subitum,  quodcumque  paras  ;  sit  caeca  futuri 

Mens  hominum  fati ;  liceat  sperare  timenti.  15 

Ergo,  ubi  concipiunt,  quantis  sit  cladibus  orbi 
Constatura  fides  superum,  ferale  per  urbem 
lustitium;  latuit  plebeio  tectus  amictu 
Omnis  honos,  nullos  comitata  est  purpura  fasces. 
Tum  questus  tenuere  sues,  magnusque  per  omnes        20 
Erravit  sine  voce  dolor.     Sic  funere  primo 

1  According  to  the  Stoics  fire  was  the  primal  element. 

2  The  gods  were  truthful,  because   the   portents  they  sent 
were  followed  by  disaster. 

56 


BOOK   II 

And  now  heaven's  wrath  was  revealed ;  the  uni- 
verse gave  clear  signs  of  battle ;  and  Nature, 
conscious  of  the  future,  reversed  the  laws  and 
ordinances  of  life,  and,  while  the  hurly-burly  bred 
monsters,  proclaimed  civil  war.  Why  didst  thou. 
Ruler  of  Olympus,  see  fit  to  lay  on  suffering  mortals 
this  additional  burden,  that  they  should  learn  the 
approach  of  calamity  by  awful  portents  ?  Whether 
the  author  of  the  universe,  when  the  fire  ^  gave  place 
and  he  first  took  in  hand  the  shapeless  realm  of 
raw  matter,  established  the  chain  of  causes  for  all 
eternity,  and  bound  himself  as  well  by  universal 
law,  and  portioned  out  the  universe,  which  endures 
the  ages  prescribed  for  it,  by  a  fixed  line  of  destiny; 
or  whether  nothing  is  ordained  and  Fortune,  moving 
at  random,  brings  round  the  cycle  of  events,  and 
cimnce  is  master  of  mankind — in  either  case,  let 
thy  purpose,  whatever  it  be,  be  sudden ;  let  the 
mind  of  man  be  blind  to  coming  doom  ;  he  fears, 
but  leave  him  hope. 

Therefore,  when  men  perceived  the  mighty 
disasters  which  the  truthfulness  of  the  gods  ^  would 
cost  the  world,  business  ceased  and  gloom  prevailed 
throughout  Rome  ;  the  magistrates  disguised  them- 
selves in  the  dress  of  the  people;  no  purple  accom- 
panied the  lictors'  rods.  Moreover,  men  restrained 
their  lamentations,  and  a  deep  dumb  grief  pervaded 
the  people.    (So,  at  the  moment  of  death  a  household 

57 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Attonitae  tacuere  domus,  cum  corpora  nondum 

Conclamata  iacent,  nee  mater  crine  solute 

Exigit  ad  saevos  famularum  bracchia  planctus, 

Sed  cum  membra  premit  fugiente  rigentia  vita  26 

Voltusque  exanimes  oculosque  in  morte  minaces  ; 

Necdum  est  ille  dolor,  nee  iam  metus :  incubat  amens 

Miraturque  malum.     Cultus  matrona  priores 

Deposuit,  maestaeque  tenent  delubra  catervae. 

Hae  lacrimis  sparsere  deos,  hae  pectora  duro.  30 

Adflixere  solo,  lacerasque  in  limine  sacro 

Attonitae  fudere  comas  votisque  vocari 

Adsuetas  crebris  feriunt  ululatibus  aures. 

Nee  cunetae  summi  templo  iaeuere  Tonantis : 

Divisere  deos,  et  nullis  defuit  aris  35 

Invidiam  factura  parens.     Quarum  una  madentes 

Scissa  genas,  planetu  liventes  atra  lacertos  : 

"  Nunc  "  ait  ''  o  miserae  contundite  pectora  matres, 

Nunc  laniate  comas  neve  hunc  differte  dolorem 

Et  summis  servate  mails.     Nunc  flere  potestas,  40 

Dum  pendet  fortuna  ducum  ;  cum  vicerit  alter, 

Gaudendum  est."     His  se  stimulis  dolor  ipse  laeessit. 

Nee  non  bella  viri  diversaque  castra  petentes 

Effundunt  iustas  in  numina  saeva  querellas. 

"  O  miserae  sortis,  quod  non  in  Punica  nati  46  < 

Tempora  Cannarum  fuimus  Trebiaeque  iuventus ! 

Non  paeem  petimus,  superi :  date  gentibus  iras, 

58 


BOOK   II 

is  stunned  and  speechless^  before  the  body  is  lamented 
and  laid  out,  and  before  the  mother  with  dishevelled 
hair  summons  her  maidens  to  beat  their  breasts 
with  cruel  arms  :  she  still  embraces  the  limbs  stiff 
with  the  departure  of  life,  and  the  inanimate 
features,  with  eyes  fierce  in  death.  Fear  she  feels 
no  longer,  but  grief  not  yet :  incapable  of  thought 
she  hangs  over  her  son  and  marvels  at  her  loss.) 
The  matrons  put  off  their  former  garb  and  occupied 
the  temples  in  mournful  companies.  Some  sprinkled 
the  images  with  their  tears;  others  dashed  their 
breasts  against  the  hard  floor  ;  in  their  frenzy  they 
shed  their  torn  locks  over  the  consecrated  threshold 
and  struck  with  repeated  shrieks  the  ears  accus- 
tomed to  be  addressed  with  prayer.  Nor  did  they 
all  prostrate  themselves  in  the  temple  of  the 
supreme  Thunderer  :  they  parted  the  gods  among 
them,  and  no  altar  lacked  a  mother  to  call  down 
shame  upon  it.  One  of  them,  whose  cheeks  were 
wet  and  torn,  and  her  shoulders  black  and  dis- 
coloured by  blows,  spoke  thus:  '^  Now,  wretched 
mothers,  now  is  the  time  to  beat  your  breasts  and 
tear  your  hair.  Do  not  delay  your  grief,  nor  keep 
it  for  the  crowning  sorrows.  5s^ow  we  have  power 
to  weep,  while  the  destiny  of  the  rival  leaders  is 
undecided  ;  but,  when  either  is  victorious,  we  must 
perforce  rejoice"  Thus  grief  works  itself  up  and 
fans  its  own  Hame. — The  men  also,  setting  out  for 
the  war  and  for  the  camps  of  the  rivals,  poured 
out  just  complaints  against  the  cruel  gods :  ''Wretched 
is  our  lot,  that  we  were  not  born  into  the  age  of  the 
Punic  wars,  that  we  were  not  the  men  who  fought 
at  Cannae  and  the  Trebia.  We  do  not  pray  the 
gods  for  peace :    let   tiiem    put    rage    into    foreign 

59 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nunc  urbes  excite  feras  ;  coniuret  in  arma 
Mundus^  Achaemeniis  decurrant  Medica  Susis 
Agmina,  Massageten  Scythicus  non  adliget  Hister, 
Fundat  ab  extremo  flavos  aquilone  Suebos  61 

Albis  et  indomitum  Rheni  caput ;  omnibus  hostes 
Reddite  nos  populis  :  civile  avertite  bellum. 
Hinc  Dacus,  premat  inde  Getes  ;  occurrat  Hiberis 
Alter^  ad  Eoas  hie  vertat  signa  pharetras  ;  65 

Nulla  vacet  tibi,  Roma,  manus.     Vel,  perdere  nomen 
Si  placet  Hesperium,  superi^  conlatus  in  ignes 
Plurimus  ad  terram  per  fulmina  decidat  aether, 
Saeve  parens,  utrasque  simul  partesque  ducesque, 
Dum  nondum  meruere,  feri.     Tantone  novorum  60 

Proventu  scelerum  quaerunt,  uter  imperet  urbi  ? 
Vix  tanti  fuerat  civilia  bella  movere, 
Ut  neuter."     Tales  pietas  peritura  querellas 
Egerit.     At  miseros  angit  sua  cura  parentes, 
Oderuntque  gravis  vivacia  fata  senectae  65 

Servatosque  iterum  bellis  civilibus  annos. 
Atque  aliquis  magno  quaerens  exempla  timori 
"  Non  alios  "  inquit  "  motus  tunc  fata  parabant. 
Cum  post  Teutonicos  victor  Libycosque  triumphos 
Exul  limosa  Marius  caput  abdidit  ulva.  70 

Stagna  avidi  texere  soli  laxaeque  paludes 
Depositum,  Fortuna,  tuum  ;  mox  vincula  ferri 


^  Caesar.  ^  Pompey. 

3  "  'J'he  failure  of  both  "  =  freedom. 

*  Jiigurtha,  King  of  Numidia.  ^  At  Minturnae. 


M 


BOOK    II 

nations  and  rouse  up  at  once  barbarian  countries. 
Let  the  whole  world  band  itself  together  for  war; 
let  armies  of  Medes  swoop  down  from  Persian 
Susa ;  let  the  northern  Danube  fail  to  bar  the 
Massagetae;  let  the  Elbe  and  the  unconquered 
mouth  of  the  Rhine  send  out  swarms  of  fair-haired 
Suebians  from  the  uttermost  North ;  make  us  foes 
to  every  nation — but  let  civil  war  pass  from  us  I 
Let  the  Dacians  attack  us  on  one  side,  the  Getae  on 
the  other;  let  one  of  the  rivals^  confront  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  other  ^  turn  his  standards  against 
the  quivers  of  the  "East ;  let  every  Roman  hand 
grasp  a  sword.  Or,  if  it  be  heaven's  purpose  to 
destroy  the  Roman  race,  let  the  mighty  firmament 
gather  itself  in  flame  and  fall  down  on  earth  in 
the  shape  of  thunderbolts.  O  ruthless  Author  of 
the  universe,  strike  both  parties  and  both  rivals 
at  once  with  the  same  bolt,  while  they  are  still 
innocent!  Must  they  ])roduce  such  a  monstrous 
cro})  of  crime,  in  order  to  settle  which  of  the  two 
shall  be  master  of  Rome  ?  Civil  war  were  a  price 
almost  too  high  to  pay  for  the  failure  of  both."  ^ 
Such  were  the  complaints  poured  forth  by  patriotism 
that  was  soon  to  pass  away.  Unhappy  parents  too 
were  tortured  by  a  sorrow  of  their  own  :  they  curse 
the  prolongation  of  grievous  old  age,  and  lament 
that  they  have  lived  to  see  a  second  civil  war. 
And  tims  spoke  one  of  them  who  sought  precedents 
for  his  great  fear:  "  As  great  were  the  disturbances 
prepared  by  Fate,  when  victorious  Marius,  who  had 
trium})hed  over  the  Teutones  and  the  African,*  was 
driven  out  to  hide  his  head  in  the  miry  sedge. ^ 
Engulfing  quicksands  and  spongy  marshes  hid  the 
secret   that  Fortune   had   placed  there  ;    and  later 

61 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Exedere  senem  longusque  in  carcere  paedor. 

Consul  et  eversa  felix  moriturus  in  urbe 

Poenas  ante  dabat  scelerum.      Mors  ipsa  refugit  75 

Saepe  virum^  frustraque  liosti  concessa  potestas 

Sanguinis  invisi,  primo  qui  caedis  in  actu 

Deriguit  ferrumque  manu  torpente  remisit. 

Viderat  inmensam  tenebroso  in  carcere  lucem 

Terribilesque  deos  scelerum  Mariumque  futurum,        80 

Audieratque  pavens  :  '  Fas  haec  contingere  non  est 

CoUa  tibi ;  debet  multas  hie  legibus  aevi 

Ante  suam  mortes  ;  vanum  depone  furorem.' 

Si  libet  ulcisci  deletae  funera  gentis, 

Hunc,  Cimbri,  servate  senem.     Non  ille  favore  85 

Numinis,  ingenti  superum  protectus  ab  ira, 

Vir  ferus  et  Romam  cupienti  perdere  fate 

Surticiens.      Idem  pelago  delatus  iniquo 

Hostilem  in  terram  vacuisque  mapalibus  actus 

Nuda  triumphati  iacuit  per  regna  lugurthae  90 

Et  Poenos  pressit  cineres.     Solacia  fati 

Carthago  Mariusque  tuUt,  pariterque  iacentes 

Ignovere  deis.      Libycas  ibi  colligit  iras. 

Ut  primum  fortuna  redit,  servilia  solvit 

Agniina,  conflato  saevas  ergastula  ferro  95 

Exeruere  manus.      Nulli  gestanda  dabantur 

Signa  ducis,  nisi  qui  scelerum  iam  fecerat  usum 


^  The  lictor  in  the  dungeon  was  a  Cimbrian. 

*  Africa.  '  I.e.  each  from  the  other's  plight. 


62 


BOOK   II 

the  old  man's  flesh  was  corroded  by  iron  fetters 
and  the  squalor  of  long  captivity.  He  was  yet 
to  die  as  Fortune's  favourite,  as  consul  in  Rome 
which  he  had  ruined ;  but  first  he  suffered  for 
his  guilt.  Death  itself  often  fled  from  him.  When 
power  to  take  his  hated  life  was  granted  to  a 
foeman,  naught  came  of  it ;  for,  in  beginning  the 
deed  of  slaughter,  the  man  was  palsied  and  let 
the  sword  slip  AOm  his  strengthless  hand.  A  great 
light  shone  in  the  prison  darkness;  he  saw  the 
awful  deities  that  wait  on  crime,  and  he  saw 
Marius  as  he  was  yet  to  be  ;  and  he  heard  a 
dreadful  voice — '  You  are  not  permitted  to  touch 
that  neck.  Before  he  dies  himself,  Marius  must, 
by  the  laws  that  govern  the  ages,  bring  death  to 
many.  Lay  aside  your  useless  rage.'  If  the  Cimbri  ^ 
wish  to  avenge  the  extinction  of  their  slaughtered 
^1  race,  they  should  let  the  old  man  live.  No  divine 
favour,  but  the  exceeding  wrath  of  heaven,  has 
guarded  the  life  of  that  man  of  blood,  in  whom 
Fortune  finds  a  perfect  instrument  for  the  destruction 
of  Rome. — Next  he  was  conveyed  over  an  angry  sea 
to  a  hostile  soil,^  where  he  was  chased  through 
deserted  villages ;  he  couched  down  in  the  devas- 
tated realmof  Jugurtha  who  had  graced  his  triumph, 
and  the  ashes  of  Carthage  were  his  bed.  Carthage 
and  Marius  both  drew  consolation  for  their  destiny  ^ ; 
both  alike  prostrate,  they  pardoned  Heaven.  In 
Africa  he  nursed  a  hate  like  Hannibal's.  As  soon 
as  Fortune  smiled  again,  he  set  free  bands  of  slaves ; 
the  prisoners  melted  down  their  fetters  and  stretched 
forth  their  hands  for  slaughter.  He  suffered  none 
to  bear  his  standards,  except  men  already  inured 
to  crime,  men  who  brought  guilt  with  them  to  the 

63 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Adtuleratque  in  castra  nefas.      Pro  fata  !  quis  ille, 

Quis  fuit  ille  dies,  Marius  quo  moenia  victor 

Corripuit,  quantoque  gradu  mors  saeva  cucurrit  !         100 

Nobilitas  cum  plebe  parity  lateque  vagatus 

Ensis,  et  a  nullo  revocatum  pectore  ferrum. 

Stat  cruor  in  templis,  multaque  rubentia  caede 

Lubrica  saxa  madent.     Nulli  sua  profuit  aetas  : 

Non  seiiis  extremum  piguit  vergentibus  annis  105 

Praecepisse  diem,  nee  primo  in  limi.^^  vitae 

Infantis  miseri  nascentia  rumpere  fata. 

Crimine  quo  parvi  caedem  potuere  mereri  ? 

Sed  satis  est  iam  posse  mori.     Trahit  ipse  furoris 

Impetus,  et  visum  lenti,  quaesisse  nocentem.  110 

In  numerum  pars  magna  perit,  rapuitque  cruentus 

Victor  ab  ignota  voltus  cervice  recisos, 

Dum  vacua  pudet  ire  manu.     Spes  una  salutis 

Oscula  pollutae  fixisse  trementia  dextrae. 

Mille  licet  gladii  mortis  nova  signa  sequantur,  115 

Degener  o  populus,  vix  saecula  longa  decorum 

Sic  meruisse  viris,  nedum  breve  dedecus  aevi 

Et  vitam  dum  Sulla  redit.     Cui  funera  volgi 

Flere  vacet  ?  vix  te  sparsum  per  viscera,  Baebi, 

Innumeras  inter  carpentis  membra  coronae  120 

Discessisse  manus  ;  aut  te,  praesage  malorum 

Antoni,  cuius  laceris  pendentia  canis 

Ora  ferens  miles  festae  rorantia  mensae 

Inposuit.     Truncos  laceravit  Fimbria  Crassos  ; 

Saeva  tribunicio  maduerunt  robora  tabo.  125 


^  The  hand  of  Marina. 

2  The  poles  on  which  the  heads  of  the  tribunes  were  carried 
seem  to  be  meant. 


64 


'  BOOK   II 

camp.  Shame  upon  Fate  !  How  dread  that  day, 
the  day  when  victorious  Marius  seized  the  city  ! 
With  what  mighty  strides  cruel  death  stalked 
abroad  !  High  and  low  were  slain  alike ;  the  sword 
strayed  far  and  wide ;  and  no  breast  was  spared 
the  steel.  Pools  of  blood  stood  in  the  temples ; 
constant  carnage  wetted  the  red  and  slippery 
pavement.  None  was  protected  by  his  age :  the 
slayer  did  not  scruple  to  anticipate  the  last  day 
of  declining  age^  or  to  cut  short  the  early  prime  of 
a  hapless  infant  in  the  dawn  of  life.  How  was  it 
possible  that  children  should  deserve  death  for  any 
crime  ?  But  it  was  enough  to  have  already  a  life 
to  lose.  The  violence  of  frenzy  was  itself  an  in- 
centive ;  and  it  was  deemed  the  part  of  a  laggard 
to  look  for  guilt  in  a  victim.  Many  were  slain 
merely  to  make  up  a  number;  and  the  bloodstained 
conqueror  seized  a  head  cut  off  from  a  stranger's 
shoulders,  because  he  was  ashamed  to  walk  with 
empty  hands.  Those  alone  were  spared  who  pressed 
their  trembling  lips  on  that  polluted  hand.^  How 
degenerate  a  people !  Though  a  thousand  swords 
obey  this  new  signal  of  death,  it  scarce  would  befit 
brave  men  to  buy  centuries  of  life  so  dear,  far  less 
the  short  and  shameful  respite — till  Sulla  returns. 
None  could  find  time  to  lament  the  deaths  of  the 
multitude,  and  hardly  to  tell  how  Baebius  was  torn 
asunder  and  scattered  piecemeal  by  the  countless 
hands  of  the  mob  that  divided  limb  from  limb; 
or  how  the  head  of  Antonius,  prophet  of  evil,  was 
swung  by  the  torn  white  hair  and  placed  dripping 
by  a  soldier  upon  the  festal  board.  The  Crassi 
were  mutilated  and  mangled  by  Fimbria  ;  and  the 
blood  of  tribunes  wetted  the  cruel  wood.^     Scaevola 

65 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Te  quoque  neglectum  violatae,  Scaevola,  Vestae 

Ante  ipsum  penetrale  deae  semperque  calentes 

Mactavere  focos ;  parvum  sed  fessa  senectus 

Sanguinis  effudit  iugulo  flammisque  pepercit. 

Septimus  haec  sequitur  repetitis  fascibus  annus.  130 

Hie  fuit  vitae  Mario  modus,  omnia  passo 

Quae  peior  fortuna  potest,  atque  omnibus  use 

Quae  melior,  mensoque  hominis  quid  fata  paterent. 

lam  quot  apud  Sacri  cecidere  cadavera  Portum, 

Aut  Collina  tulit  stratas  quot  porta  catervas,  135 

Tum  cum  paene  caput  mundi  rerumque  potestas 

Mutavit  translata  locum,  Romanaque  Samnis 

Ultra  Caudinas  speravit  volnera  Furcas. 

Sulla  quoque  inmensis  accessit  cladibus  ultor. 

Ille  quod  exiguum  restabat  sanguinis  urbi  140 

Hausit ;  dumque  nimis  iam  putria  membra  recidit, 

Excessit  medicina  modum,  nimiumque  secuta  est. 

Qua  morbi  duxere,  manus.     Periere  nocentes, 

Sed  cum  iam  soli  possent  superesse  nocentes. 

Tunc  data  libertas  odiis,  resolutaque  legum  145 

Frenis  ira  ruit.     Non  uni  cuncta  dabantur, 

Sed  fecit  sibi  quisque  nefas ;  semel  omnia  victor 

lusserat.      Infandum  domini  per  viscera  ferrum 

Exegit  famulus  ;  nati  maduere  paterno 

Sanguine  ;  certatum  est,  cui  cervix  caesa  parentis      150 

'  The  Samnite  general,  Telesinus,  had  threatened  to  raze 
Rome  to  the  ground,  and  make  another  city  the  capital  of 
Italy. 

66 


BOOK    II 

too  found  no  protection  from  outraged  Vesta :  they 
sacrificed  the  old  man  before  the  very  shrine 
and  ever-burning  hearth  of  the  goddess,  but  the 
scanty  stream  of  blood  that  issued  from  his  aged 
throat  suffered  the  fire  to  burn  on.  These  things 
were  followed  by  the  seventh  year  in  which  Marius 
resumed  the  rods  of  office.  And  that  was  the  end 
of  his  life  :  he  had  suffered  every  blow  that  evil 
fortune  can  inflict,  and  enjoyed  every  gift  that 
good  fortune  can  bestow  ;  he  had  measured  the  full 
extent  of  human  destiny. — Again,  how  many  corpses 
fell  at  Sacriportus  !  What  heaps  of  slain  encumbered 
the  Colline  Gate  on  that  day  when  the  capital  of 
the  world  and  the  government  of  mankind  was 
nearly  transferred  to  a  different  seat,^  and  the 
Samnites  hoped  to  inflict  on  Rome  a  heavier  blow 
than  the  Caudine  Forks  !  And  then,  to  crown  the 
infinite  slaughter,  came  Sulla's  vengeance.  What 
little  blood  was  left  at  Rome  he  shed;  and  while  he 
lopped  off  too  fiercely  the  limbs  that  were  corrupt, 
his  surgery  went  beyond  all  bounds,  and  his  knife 
followed  too  far  on  the  path  whither  disease  invited 
it.  The  men  slain  were  guilty,  but  it  was  a  time 
when  there  were  none  but  guilty  to  survive.  Licence 
was  granted  then  to  private  hatred  ;  and  anger, 
freed  from  the  curb  of  law,  rushed  headlong  on. 
The  deeds  done  were  not  all  done  for  the  sake 
of  one  man ;  but  each  committed  outrage  to  please 
himself.  The  conqueror  had  once  for  all  issued  his 
orders  which  included  every  crime.  The  servant 
drove  the  accursed  sword  to  the  hilt  through  his 
master's  body ;  sons  were  sprinkled  with  their 
father's  blood  and  strove  with  each  other  for  the 
privilege  of  beheading  a  parent;  and  brother  slew 

67 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Cederet ;  in  fratrum  ceciderunt  praemia  fratres. 

Busta  repleta  fuga,  permixtaque  viva  sepultis 

Corpora,  nee  populum  latebrae  cepere  ferarum. 

Hie  laqueo  fauees  elisaque  guttura  fregit. 

Hie  se  praecipiti  iaculatus  pondere  dura  155 

Dissiluit  percussus  humo,  mortesque  cruento 

Victori  rapuere  suas  ;  hie  robora  busti 

Exstruit  ipse  sui  necdum  omni  sanguine  fuse 

Desilitin  flammas  at,  dum  lieet,  occupat  ignes. 

Colla  ducum  pilo  trepidam  gestata  per  urbem  ICO 

Et  medio  congesta  foro;  cognoscitur  illie, 

Quidquid  ubique  iaeet.      Scelerum  non  Thracia  tantum 

Vidit  Bistonii  stabulis  pendere  tyranni, 

Postibus  Antaei  Libya,  nee  Graecia  maerens 

Tot  laceros  artus  Pisaea  flevit  in  aula.  165 

Cum  iam  tabe  fluunt  confusaque  tempore  multo 

Amisere  notas,  miserorum  dextra  parentum 

Colligit  et  pavido  sul)dueit  eognita  furto. 

Meque  ipsum  memini  eaesi  deformia  fratris 

Ora  rogo  cupidum  vetitisque  inponere  flammis  170 

Omnia  Sullanae  lustrasse  cadavera  paeis, 

Perque  omnes  truncos,  eum  qua  eervice  recisum 

Conveniat,  quaesisse,  caput.     Quid  sanguine  manes 

Placatos  Catuli  referam  ?  eum  victima  tristes 

Inferias  Marius  forsan  nolentibus  umbris  175 

Pendit  inexpleto  non  fanda  piaeula  busto, 

Cum  laeeros  artus  aequataque  volnera  membris 

Vidimus,  et  toto  quamvis  in  eorpore  eaeso 


I 


1  Diomedes,  a  mythical  king,  killed  by  Hercules.  For 
Antaeus,  see  iv.  593  foil.  The  "court-yard  of  Pisa"  refers  to 
Oenomaus,  who  killed  his  daughter's  suitors. 

2  M.    Marius    Gratidianus,    who    was    only   by   adoption  a 
member  of  the  Marian  family. 
68 


-y  BOOK   ir 

brother  to  earn  rewards.  The  tombs  were  filled 
with  fugitives,  and  the  bodies  of  the  living  consorted 
with  buried  corpses  ;  and  the  lairs  of  wild  beasts 
were  crowded  with  men.  One  man  tied  a  noose 
round  his  throat  and  broke  his  neck  ;  another  hurled 
himself  down  headlong  and  was  dashed  to  pieces 
asfainst  the  hard  ground  ;  and  thus  they  robbed  the 
bloodstained  conqueror  of  their  deaths.  Another 
piled  up  wood  for  his  own  pyre,  and  then,  before  all 
his  blood  had  run  out,  sprang  down  into  the  flame 
and  made  haste  to  burn  himself  before  he  was 
prevented.  The  heads  of  the  chief  men  were  borne 
on  pikes  through  the  terrified  city  and  piled  in  the 
centre  of  the  forum  ;  the  victims  slaughtered  in  all 
places  were  displayed  there.  Thrace  never  saw  so 
many  murdered  corpses  in  the  stables  of  the  Bistonian 
king,^  nor  Africa  at  the  doors  of  Antaeus ;  nor  did 
mourning  Greece  lament  so  many  mutilated  bodies 
in  the  courtyard  of  Pisa.  When  the  heads,  dis- 
solving in  corruption  and  effaced  by  lapse  of  time, 
had  lost  all  distinctive  features,  their  wretched 
parents  gathered  the  relics  they  recognised  and 
stealthily  removed  them.  I  remember  how  I  my- 
self, seeking  to  place  on  the  funeral  fire  denied 
them  the  shapeless  features  of  my  murdered  brother, 
scrutinised  all  the  corpses  slain  by  Sulla's  peace  : 
round  all  the  headless  bodies  I  went,  seeking  for 
a  neck  to  fit  the  severed  head.  Why  tell  of  the 
bloody  atonement  made  to  the  ghost  of  Catulus  ? 
A  Marius  ^  was  the  victim  who  paid  that  terrible 
offering,  perhaps  distasteful  to  the  dead  himself, 
that  unspeakable  sacrifice  to  the  insatiate  tomb. 
We  saw  his  mangled  frame  with  a  wound  for  every 
limb ;    we  saw   every  part  of  the    body  mutilated 

69 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nil  animae  letale  datum  moremque  nefandae 

Dirum  saevitiae,  pereuntis  parcere  raorti.  180 

Avolsae  cecidere  manus,  exsectaque  lingua 

Palpitat  et  muto  vacuum  ferit  aera  motu. 

Hie  aures,  alius  spiramina  naris  aduncae 

Amputat ;  ille  cavis  evolvit  sedibus  orbes, 

Ultimaque  etfodit  spectatis  lumina  membris.  T86 

Vix  erit  uUa  fides  tain  saevi  criminis,  unum 

Tot  poenas  cepisse  caput.     Sic  mole  ruinae 

Fracta  sub  ingenti  miscentur  pondere  membra. 

Nee  magis  informes  veniunt  ad  litora  trunci. 

Qui  medio  periere  freto.     Quid  perdere  fructura        190 

luvit  et,  ut  vilem,  Marii  confundere  voltum  ? 

Ut  seel  us  hoc  Sullae  caedesque  ostensa  placeret, 

Agnoscendus  erat.     Vidit  Fortuna  colonos 

Praenestina  suos  cunctos  simul  ense  recepto 

Unius  populum  pereuntem  tempore  mortis.  196 

Tum  flos  Hesperiae,  Latii  iam  sola  iuventus, 

Concidit  et  miserae  maculavit  Ovilia  Romae. 

Tot  simul  infesto  iuvenes  occumbere  leto 

Saepe  fames  pelagique  furor  subitaeque  ruinae 

Aut  terrae  caelique  lues  aut  bellica  clades,  200 

Numquam  poena  fuit.     Densi  vix  agmina  volgi 

Inter  et  exsangues  inmissa  morte  catervas 

Victores  movere  manus  ;  vix  caede  peracta 

Procumbunt,  dubiaque  labant  cervice  ;  sed  illos 

^  The  worsliip  of  Fortuna  was  of  great  importance  at 
Praeneste. 

^  An  enclosed  space  in  the  Campus  Martius  where  polling 
took  place.     See  u,  to  vii,  306, 

70 


k 


BOOK    II 

and  yet  no  death-stroke  dealt  to  the  life  ;  we  saw 
the  terrible  form  taken  by  savage  cruelty,  of  not 
suffering  the  dying  to  die.  The  arms,  wrenched 
from  the  shoulders,  fell  to  the  ground ;  the  tongue, 
cut  out,  quivered  and  beat  the  empty  air  with 
dumb  motion  ;  one  man  cut  off  the  ears,  another 
the  nostrils  of  the  curved  nose  ;  a  third  pushed 
the  eye-balls  from  their  hollow  sockets  and  scooped 
the  eyes  out  last  of  all  when  they  had  witnessed 
the  fate  of  the  limbs.  Few  will  believe  such  an 
atrocity,  or  that  a  single  frame  could  be  large  enough 
for  so  many  tortures.  Such  are  men's  limbs  when 
broken  and  pounded  under  the  huge  weight  of  a 
fallen  building  ;  and  the  dead,  who  have  perished 
in  mid-ocean  and  drifted  to  the  shore,  are  not  more 
disfigured.  What  made  them  waste  their  advantage 
and  obliterate  the  features  of  Marius,  as  if  they 
were  of  no  account  ?  They  ought  to  have  been 
recognisable ;  then  the  crime  would  find  favour 
with  Sulla  and  the  murder  would  be  proved.  .  The 
Fortune  of  Praeneste  ^  saw  all  her  citizens  put  to 
the  sword  together,  and  her  population  slain  In 
the  time  it  takes  one  man  to  die.  The  flower  of 
Italy  also,  the  only  Roman  soldiers  left,  were 
slaughtered  and  stained  with  their  blood  the 
Sheepfold  ^  of  Rome.  The  violent  death  of  so  many 
strong  men  at  once  has  often  been  caused  by  famine, 
or  stormy  sea,  or  sudden  crash  of  buildings,  or 
plague  of  earth  and  sky,  or  havoc  of  war,  but  never 
before  by  execution.  So  thick  was  the  crowd  of 
men,  of  faces  that  grew  pale  when  death  was  let 
loose  upon  them,  that  the  conquerors  could  scarce 
ply  their  weapons  :  even  when  the  slaughter  was 
done,  the  dead  could  scarce  fall  down  but  swayed  with 

71 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Magna  premit  strages,  peraguntque  cadavera  partem 

Caedis  :  viva  graves  elidunt  corpora  trunci.  206 

Intrepidus  tanti  sedit  securus  ab  alto 

Spectator  sceleris  ;  miseri  tot  milia  volgi 

Non  timuit  iussisse  mori.     Congesta  recepit 

Omnia  Tjirhenus  Sullana  cadavera  gurges  ;  210 

In  fluvium  primi  cecidere^  in  corpora  summi. 

Praecipites  haesere  rates,  et  strage  cruenta 

Interruptiis  aquae  fluxit  prior  amnis  in  aequor, 

Ad  molem  stetit  unda  sequens.     lam  sanguinis  alti 

Vis  sibi  fecit  iter,  campumque  effusa  per  omneia         215 

Praecipitique  ruens  Tiberina  in  flumina  rivo 

Haerentes  adiuvit  aquas ;  nee  iam  alveus  amnem 

Nee  retinent  ripae,  redditque  cadavera  campo. 

Tandem  Tyrrhenas  vix  eluctatus  in  undas 

Sanguine  caeruleum  torrenti  dividit  aequor.  22C 

Plisne  salus  rerum,  felix  his  Sulla  vocari. 

His  meruit  tumulum  medio  sibi  tollere  Campo? 

Haec  rursus  patienda  manent,  hoc  ordine  belli 

Ibitur,  hie  stabit  civilibus  exitus  armis. 

Quamquam  agitant  graviora  metus,  multumque  coitur 

Humani  generis  maiore  in  proelia  dam  no.  226 

Exulibus  Mariis  bellorum  maxima  merces 

Roma  recepta  fuit,  nee  plus  victoria  Sullae 

P^-aestitit  iijyisas  penitus  quam  tollere  partes  : 

.•tol    iHH    (lh>^h 

^p.„V  The  Tiber. 
.      *  Sulla  added  the  surname  Felix  to  his  original  name. 

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drooping  necks ;  and  the  survivors  were  wefj^hed 
down  by  the  heaps  of  corpses  ;  for  tlie  dead  took 
their  share  in  dealing  death,  and  the  living  were 
crushed  by  the  weight  of  the  slain.  Without  a 
qualm  Sulla  sat  at  ease  to  witness  the  awful  deed 
from  his  lofty  seat ;  he  feared .  not  to  pass  sentence 
of  death  on  so  many  thousands  of  undistinguished 
wretches.  The  bodies  of  Sulla's  victims  were  all 
piled  up  and  thrown  into  the  Etruscan  river ;  ^  the 
first  of  them  fell  upon  the  water,  the  last  upon  other 
carcasses.  Ships  going  down  the  stream  stuck  fast; 
the  front  part  of  the  river  was  cut  off  by  the  heaps 
of  dead  and  so  flowed  down  to  the  sea,  while  the 
part  behind  was  blocked  at  the  barrier.  But  soon 
the  river  of  blood  made  a  way  for  itself:  it  flooded 
all  the  plain  ;  it  rushed  in  rapid  channel  to  the 
Tiber  and  swelled  the  impeded  current,  till  its  bed 
and  banks  could  not  contain  the  stream  ;  and  the 
river  brought  the  corpses  back  to  land,  and  at  last 
forced  its  way  with  difficulty  to  the  Tyrrhene  sea, 
where  it  parted  the  blue  expanse  with  a  torrent 
of  blood.  Were  these  the  deeds  that  entitled  Sulla 
to  be  called  the  saviour  of  his  country  and  the 
favourite  of  Fortune,^  and  to  rear  himself  a  tomb 
in  the  centre  of  the  Campus  ?  Those  same  woes 
we  must  endure  again  ;  through  that  sequence  of 
warfare  we  must  pass ;  such  is  the  issue  appointed 
to  every  civil  war.  And  yet  our  fears  forebode  still 
worse,  and  much  greater  damage  to  mankind  will 
come  of  this  conflict  in  arms.  To  Marius  and  his 
exiles  the  recovery  of  Rome  was  the  great  prize 
-  they  fought  for,  and  to  Sulla  victory  brought  no 
tg,  more  than  the  extermination  of  the  party  he  hated ; 
but  the  rivals  of  to-day  have  long  been  supreme, 

73 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Hos  alio,  Fortuna,  vocas,  olimque  potentes  230 

Concurrunt.     Neuter  civilia  bella  moveret, 
Contentus  quo  Sulla  fuit."     Sic  maesta  seneotiis 
Praeteritique  memor  flebat  metuensque  futuri. 

At  non  magnanimi  percussit  pectora  Bruti 
Terror,  et  in  tanta  pavidi  formidine  motus  235 

Pars  populi  lugentis  erat ;  sed  nocte  sopora, 
Parrhasis  obliquos  Helice  cum  verteret  axes, 
Atria  cognati  pulsat  non  ampla  Catonis. 
Invenit  insomni  volventem  publica  cura 
Fata  virum  casusque  urbis  cunctisque  timentem         240 
Securumque  sui,  farique  his  vocibus  orsus  : 
"Omnibus  expulsae  terris  olimque  fugatae 
Virtutis  iam  sola  fides,  quam  turbine  nullo 
Excutiet  fortuna  tibi,  tu  mente  labantem 
Derige  me,  dubium  certo  tu  robore  jfirma.  245 

Namque  alii  Magnum  vel  Caesaris  arma  sequantur : 
Dux  Bruto  Cato  solus  erit.     Pacemne  tueris 
Inconcussa  tenens  dubio  vestigia  mundo  ? 
An  placuit  ducibus  scelerum  populique  furentis 
Cladibus  inmixtum  civile  absolvere  bellum  ?  250 

Quemque  suae  rapiunt  scelerata  in  proelia  causae  : 
Hos  polluta  donius  legesque  in  pace  timendae, 
Hos  ferro  fugienda  fames  mundique  ruinae 
Permiscenda  fides.     Nullum  furor  egit  in  arma  : 
Castra  petunt  magna  victi  mercede ;  tibi  uni  265 

Per  se  bella  placent  ?  quid  tot  durare  per  annos 

^  Helice,  or  Callisto,  is  a  common  name  in  the  poets  for  the 
Great  Bear. 

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and  they  are  summoned  by  destiny  to  a  different 
goal.  If  either  were  content  with  what  satisfied 
Sulla,  he  would  not  stir  up  civil  war."  Such  were 
the  laments  of  sorrowing  elders,  as  they  recalled  the 
past  and  dreaded  the  future. 

But  the  heart  of  noble  Brutus  was  shaken  by  no 
fear,  and  amid  that  mighty  dread  of  awful  change  he 
was  not  one  of  the  mourning  populace.  In  the 
slumbrous  night,  when  Arcadian  Helice  ^  was  turning 
her  wain  aslant,  he  knocked  at  the  humble  dwelling 
of  his  kinsman,  Cato.  He  found  the  great  man 
pondering  in  sleepless  anxiety  over  the  destiny  of 
the  nation  and  the  plight  of  Rome,  careless  of  his 
own  safety  but  fearful  for  mankind  ;  and  thus  he 
addressed  him :  "  Virtue,  long  ago  driven  out  and 
banished  from  every  land,  finds  in  you  her  one 
remaining  support,  and  will  never  be  dislodged  from 
your  breast  by  any  turn  of  fortune ;  do  you  there- 
fore guide  my  hesitation  and  fortify  my  weakness 
with  your  unerring  strength.  Let  others  follow 
Magnus  or  Caesar's  arms — Brutus  will  own  no  leader 
but  Cato.  Are  you  the  champion  of  peace,  keeping 
your  path  unshaken  amid  a  tottering  world  ?  Or 
have  you  resolved  to  stand  with  the  arch-criminals 
and  take  your  share  in  the  disasters  of  a  mad  world, 
and  so  clear  the  civil  war  of  guilt  ?  Each  man  is 
carried  away  to  wicked  warfare  by  motives  of  his 
own — some  by  crimes  of  private  life  and  fear  of  the 
laws  if  peace  be  kept ;  others  by  the  need  to  drive 
away  hunger  by  the  sword  and  to  bury  bankruptcy 
under  the  destruction  of  the  world.  None  has  been 
driven  to  arms  by  mere  impulse :  they  have  been 
bought  by  a  great  bribe  to  follow  the  camp ;  do  you 
alone  choose  war  for  its  own  sake  ?     What  good  was 

75 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Profuit  inmunem  corrupt!  moribus  aevi  ? 

Hoc  solum  longae  pretium  virtutis  habebis : 

Accipient  alios,  facient  te  bella  nocentem. 

Ne  tantum,  o  superi,  liceat  feralibus  armis,  260 

Has  etiam  movisse  manus.     Nee  pila  lacertis 

Missa  tuis  caeca  telorum  in  nube  ferentur  : 

Ne  tanta  incassum  virtus  eat,  ingeret  omnis 

Se  belli  fortuiia  tibi.     Quis  nolet  in  isto 

Ense  mori,  quamvis  alieno  volnere  labens,  265 

Et  scelus  esse  tuum  ?     Melius  tranquilla  sine  armis 

Otia  solus  ages ;  sicut  caelestia  semper 

Inconcussa  suo  volvuntur  sidera  lapsu. 

Fulminibus  propior  terrae  succenditur  aer, 

Imaque  telluris  ventos  tractusque  coruscos  270 

Flaminarum  accipiunt :  nubes  excedit  Olympus. 

Lege  deum  minimas  rerum  discordia  turbat, 

Pacem  magna  tenent.     Quam  laetae  Caesaris  aures 

Accipient  tantum  venisse  in  proelia  civem ! 

Nam  praelata  suis  numquam  diversa  dolebit  275 

Castra  ducis  Magni ;  nimium  placet  ipse  Gitoni, 

Si  bellum  civile  placet.      Pars  magna  senatus 

Et  duce  privato  gesturus  proelia  consul 

Sollicitant  proceresque  alii  ;  quibus  adde  Catonem 

Sub  iuga  Pompei,  toto  iam  liber  in  orbe  280 

Solus  Caesar  erit.     Quod  si  pro  legibus  arma 

Ferre  iuvat  patriis  libertatemque  tueri. 

Nunc  neque  Pompei  Brutum  neque  Caesaris  hostem, 

*  Poiiipey,  who  then  held  no  magistracy. 
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it  to  stand  firm  so  many  years,  untouched  by  the 
vices  of  a  profligate  age  ?  Ttiis  will  be  your  sole 
reward  for  the  virtue  of  a  lifetime  -  that  war, 
which  finds  others  already  guilty,  will  make  you 
guilty  at  last.  Heaven  forbid  that  this  fatal  strife 
should  have  power  to  stir  your  hands  also  to 
action.  Javelins  launched  by  your  arm  will  not 
hurtle  through  the  indistinguishable  cloud  of  missiles ; 
and,  in  order  that  all  that  virtue  may  not  spend 
itself  in  vain,  all  the  hazard  of  war  will  hurl  itself 
upon  you;  for  who,  th-ough  staggering  beneath  an- 
other's stroke,  will  not  wish  to  fall  by  your  sword 
and  make  you  guilty  ?  Fitter  than  war  for  you  is 
peaceful  life  and  tranquil  solitude;  so  the  stars  of 
heaven  roll  on  for  ever  unshaken  in  their  courses. 
Tiie  part  of  air  nearest  earth  is  fired  by  thunder- 
bolts, and  the  low-lying  places  of  the  world  are 
visited  by  gales  and  long  flashes  of  flame ;  but 
Olympus  rises  above  the  clouds.  It  is  heaven's  law, 
that  small  things  are  troubled  and  distracted,  while 
great  things  enjoy  peace.  What  joyful  news  to 
Caesar's  ear,  that  so  great  a  citizen  has  joined  the 
fray  !  He  will  never  resent  your  preference  of  his 
rival,  of  Pompey's  camp  to  his  own ;  for,  if  Cato 
countenances  civil  war,  he  countenances  Caesar  also 
more  than  enough.  When  half  the  Senate,  when 
the  consuls  and  other  nobles,  mean  to  wage  war 
under  a  leader  who  holds  no  office,^  the  temptation 
is  strong ;  but,  if  Cato  too  submit  like  these  to 
Pompey,  Caesar  will  be  the  only  free  man  left  on 
earth.  If,  however,  we  resolve  to  bear  arms  in 
defence  of  our  country's  laws  and  to  maintain 
freedom,  you  behold  in  me  one  who  is  not  now  the 
foe  of  either  Caesar  or  Pompey,  though  I  shall  be 

77 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Post  bellum  victoris  habes."     Sic  fatur  ;  at  illi 

Arcano  sacras  reddit  Cato  pectore  voces  :  28j 

"  Summunij  Brute,  nefas  civilia  bella  fatemur; 

Sed  quo  fata  trahunt,  virtus  secura  sequetur. 

Crimen  erit  superis  et  me  fecisse  nocentem. 

Sidera  quis  munduraque  velit  spectare  cadentem 

Expers  ipse  metus  ?  quis,  cum  ruat  arduus  aether,      29( 

Terra  labet  mixto  coeuntis  pondere  mundi, 

Compressas  tenuisse  manus  ?  gentesne  furorem 

Hesperium  ignotae  Romauaque  bella  sequentur 

Diduclique  fretis  alio  sub  sidere  reges, 

Otia  solus  agam  ?  procul  hunc  arcete  furorem,  29i 

O  superi,  motura  Dahas  ut  clade  Getasque 

Securo  me  Roma  cadat.     Ceu  morte  parentem 

Natorum  orbatum  longum  producere  funus 

Ad  tumulos  iubet  ipse  dolor,  iuvat  ignibus  atris 

Inseruisse  manus  constructoque  aggere  busti  30( 

Ipsum  atras  tenuisse  faces,  non  ante  revellar, 

Exanimem  quam  te  conplectar,  Roma ;  tuumque 

Nomen,  Libertas,  et  inanem  prosequar  umbram. 

Sic  eat :  inmites  Romana  piacula  divi 

Plena  ferant,  nuUo  fraudemus  sanguine  bellum.  SOL 

O  utinam  caelique  dels  Erebique  liceret 

Hoc  caput  in  cunctas  damnatum  exponere  poenas  ! 

Devotum  hostiles  Decium  pressere  catervae  : 

Me  geminae  figant  acies,  me  barbara  telis 

Rheni  turba  petat,  cunctis  ego  pervius  hastis  31C 

1  This  promise  was  made  good  when  Brutus  stabbed  Caesar. 

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the  foe  of  the  conqueror  when  war  is  over."^  So 
Brutus  spoke,  and  Cato  from  the  sacred  shrine  of 
his  heart  made  this  reply :  "  Brutus,  I  allow  that 
civil  war  is  the  worst  wickedness ;  but  V^irtue  will 
follow  fearless  wherever  destiny  summons  her.  It 
will  be  a  reproach  to  the  gods,  that  they  have  made 
even  me  guilty.  VVHio  would  choose  to  watch  the 
starry  vault  falling  down  and  to  feel  no  fear  himself? 
or  to  sit  with  folded  hands,  when  high  heaven 
was  crashing  down  and  earth  shaking  with  the 
confused  weight  of  a  collapsing  firmament?  If 
nations  unknown,  if  kings  who  reign  in  another 
clime  beyond  the  seas,  join  the  madness  of  Italy 
and  the  standards  of  Rome,  shall  I  alone  dwell  in 
peace?  Heaven  keep  far  from  me  this  madness, 
that  the  fall  of  Rome,  which  will  stir  by  her  disaster 
the  Dahae  and  the  Getae,  should  leave  me  in- 
different! When  a  father  is  robbed  of  his  sons  by 
death,  grief  itself  bids  him  lead  the  long  funeral 
train  to  the  grave  ;  he  is  fain  to  thrust  his  hands  into 
the  doleful  fires,  and  himself  to  hold  the  smoky 
torch  where  the  lofty  pyre  rises.  So  never  shall 
I  be  torn  away  before  1  embrace  the  lifeless  body 
of  my  country  ;  and  I  will  follow  to  the  grave  the 
mere  name  and  empty  ghost  of  Freedom.  So  be  it ! 
Let  Rome  pay  atonement  in  full  to  the  pitiless 
gods,  and  let  no  man's  life  be  denied  to  the  claim 
of  war !  But  would  it  were  possible  for  me,  con- 
demned by  the  powers  of  heaven  and  hell,  to  be 
the  scapegoat  for  the  nation  !  As  hordes  of  foemen 
bore  down  Decius  when  he  had  offered  his  life,  so 
may  both  armies  pierce  this  body,  may  the  savages 
from  the  Rhine  aim  their  weapons  at  me  ;  may  I  be 
transfixed  by  every  spear,  and  may  1  stand  between 

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M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Excipiam  medius  totius  volnera  belli. 

Hie  redimat  sanguis  populos,  hae  caede  luatur, 

Quidquid  Romani  meruerunt  pendere  mores. 

Ad  iuga  cur  fijiciles  populi,  eur  saeva  volentes 

Regna  pati  pereunt?  me  solum  invadite  ferro,  31f 

Me  frustra  leges  et  inania  iura  tuentem. 

Hie  dabit,  bic  pacem  iugulus  finemque  malorum 

Gentibus  Hesperiis:  post  me  regnare  volenti 

Non  opus  est  bello.     Quin  publica  signa  ducemque 

Pompeium  sequimur?  nee,  si  fortuna  favebit,  320 

Hunc  quoque  totius  sibi  ius  promittere  mundi 

Non  bene  conpertum  est:  ideo  me  milite  vincat, 

Ne  sibi  se  vicisse  putet."     Sic  fatur^  et  acres 

Irarum  movit  stimulos  iuvenisque  calorem 

Excitat  in  nimios  belli  civilis  amores.  325 

Interea  Phoebo  gelidas  pellente  tenebras 
Pulsatae  sonuere  fores,  quas  saucta  relictO' 
Hortensi  maerens  inrupit  Marcia  busto. 
Quondam  virgo  toris  melioris  iuncta  mariti, 
Mox  ubi  conubii  pretium  mercesque  soluta  est  330 

Tertia  iam  suboles,  alios  fecunda  penates 
Inpletura  datur  geminas  et  sanguine  matris 
Permixtura  domos.     Sed  postquam  condidit  urna 
Supremos  cineres,  miserando  concita  voltu, 
Eirusas  laniata  comas  contusaque  pectus  335 

Verberibus  crebris  cineresque  ingesta  sepulchri, 


^  Cato,  who  transferred  her  later  to  Horteiisiua. 
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and  intercept  every  blow  dealt  in  this  war !  Let 
my  blood  redeem  the  nations,  and  my  death 
pay  the  whole  penalty  incurred  by  the  corruption 
of  Rome.  If  the  nations  are  willing  to  bear  the 
yoke  and  resent  not  harsh  tyranny,  why  should  they 
die?  Aim  your  swords  at  me  alone,  at  me  who 
fight  a  losing  battle  for  despised  law  and  justice. 
My  blood,  mine  only,  will  bring  peace  to  the  people 
of  Italy  and  end  their  sufferings ;  the  would-be 
tyrant  need  wage  no  war,  once  I  am  gone.  Why 
should  I  not  follow  the  standard  of  the  nation  and 
Pompey  as  my  leader  ?  And  yet  I  know  full  well 
that,  if  fortune  favour  him,  he  too  looks  forward  to 
mastery  over  the  world.  Let  me  then  serve  in  his 
victorious  army,  and  prevent  him  from  thinking  that 
he  has  conquered  for  himself  alone."  Thus  Cato 
spoke,  filling  the  younger  man  with  strong  incen- 
tives to  battle  and  prompting  his  high  spirit  to 
excessive  desire  for  civil  war. 

Meanwhile  the  sun  was  dispelling  chilly  night, 
when  a  loud  knocking  was  heard  at  the  door,  and 
in  rushed  the  matron,  Marcia,  mourning  for  Hor- 
tensius  whose  pyre  she  had  just  left.  As  a 
maiden  she  had  first  been  wedded  to  a  nobler 
husband  ;  ^  then,  when  she  had  received  the  reward 
and  fee  of  wedlock  in  the  birth  of  a  third  child,  she 
was  given  to  another  household,  to  populate  it  with 
her  fruitfulness  and  to  ally  the  two  houses  by  the 
maternal  blood.  But  now,  when  she  had  laid  the 
ashes  of  Hortensius  in  their  final  urn,  she  hastened 
hither  in  piteous  guise :  torn  and  disordered  was 
her  hair,  and  her  breast  bruised  with  repeated 
blows ;  she  was  covered  with  the  funeral  ashes. 
Not  otherwise  could  she  have  found    favour  with 

8i 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Non  aliter  placitura  viro,  sic  maesta  profatur  : 

"  Dum  sanguis  inerat,  dum  vis  materna,  peregi 

lussa,  Cato,  et  geminos  excepi  feta  maritos  ; 

Visceribus  lassis  partuque  exiiausta  reverter  340 

lam  nulli  tradenda  viro.      Da  foedera  prisci 

Inlibata  tori,  da  tantum  nomen  inane 

Conubii ;  liceat  tumulo  scripsisse  :  '  Catonis 

Marcia'  ;  nee  dubium  longo  quaeratur  in  aevo, 

Mutarim  primas  expulsa,  an  tradita,  taedas.  345 

Non  me  laetorum  sociam  rebusque  secundis 

Accipis  :  in  curas  venio  partemque  laborum. 

Da  mihi  castra  sequi.     Cur  tuta  in  pace  relinquar, 

Et  sit  civili  propior  Cornelia  bello  ?  " 

Hae  flexere  virum  voces,  et  tempora  quamquam 
Sint  alienia  toris,  iara  fato  in  bella  vocante,  351 

Foedera  sola  tamen  vanaque  carentia  pompa 
lura  placent  sacrisque  deos  admittere  testes. 
Festa  coronato  non  pendent  limine  serta, 
Infulaque  in  geminos  discurrit  Candida  postes,  355 

Legitimaeque  faces,  gradibusque  adciinis  eburnis 
Stat  torus  et  pic  to  vestes  discriminat  auro, 
Turritaque  premens  frontem  matrona  corona 
Translata  vitat  contingere  limina  planta ; 
Non  timidum  nuptae  leviter  tectura  pudorem  360 

Lutea  demissos  velarunt  flammea  voltus, 
Balteus  aut  fluxos  gemmis  astrinxit  araictus, 
CoUa  monile  decent,  umerisque  haerentia  primis 


^  The  wife  of  Pompey. 

2  "The  marriage  takes  22  lines,  17  of  which  describe  the 
usages  dispensed  with  by  the  pair,  3  those  complied  with ; 
2  are  introductory  "  (Heitland's  Iniroduction,  p.  Ixxii). 


82 


BOOK    I J  ?/. 

Cato.  And  thus  she  spoke  sorrowing:  ** While 
there  was  warm  blood  in  these  veins  and  1  had 
power  to  be  a  mother,  I  did  your  bidding,  Cato :  I 
took  two  husbands  and  bore  them  children.  Now 
I  return  wearied  and  worn-out  with  child-bearing, 
and  I  must  not  again  be  surrendered  to  any  other 
husband.  Grant  me  to  renew  the  faithful  compact 
of  my  first  marriage  ;  grant  me  only  the  name  of 
wife  ;  suffer  men  to  write  on  my  tomb,  ^  Marcia,  wife 
of  Cato ' ;  let  not  the  question  be  disputed  in  after 
time,  whether  I  was  driven  out  or  handed  over  by 
you  to  a  second  husband.  You  do  not  receive  me 
to  share  in  happiness  or  for  prosperous  times :  I 
come  to  take  my  part  in  anxiety  and  trouble. 
Suffer  me  to  follow  the  camp.  Why  should  I  be 
left  behind  in  peace  and  safety,  and  be  kept  further 
away  than  Cornelia  ^  from  civil  war  ?  " 

Her  words  moved  her  husband.  Though  the  time 
when  Fate  called  men  to  arms  was  ill-suited  for  a 
marriage,  they  resolved  to  tie  the  knot  simply  and 
perform  the  rite  with  no  useless  display  ;  the  gods 
alone  should  be  present  to  witness  the  ceremony.^ 
No  festal  garlands,  no  wreath,  hung  from  the 
lintel ;  no  white  fillet  ran  this  way  and  that  to 
each  post  of  the  door.  The  customary  torches ; 
the  high  couch  supported  on  ivory  steps  and  dis- 
playing a  coverlet  of  gold  embroidery ;  the  matron, 
wearing  on  her  head  a  towered  crown,  and  careful 
not  to  touch  the  threshold  when  her  foot  crosses 
it — all  these  are  absent.  No  saffron  veil,  intended 
lightly  to  screen  the  bride's  shy  blushes,  hid  the 
downcast  face;  no  belt  bound  the  flowing  raiment 
with  jewels,  no  fair  circlet  confined  the  neck,  nor 
did  a  scarf,  clinging  to   the   tip   of  the   shoulder, 

«3 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Suppara  nudatos  cingunt  angusta  lacertos. 
Sicut  erat,  maesti  servat  lugubria  cultus, 
Quoque  modo  natos,  hoc  est  amplexa  maritum. 
Obsita  funerea  celatur  purpura  lana. 
Non  soliti  lusere  sales,  nee  more  Sabino 
Excepit  tristis  convicia  festa  maritus. 
Pignora  nulla  domus,  nulli  coiere  propinqui : 
lunguntur  taciti  contentique  auspice  Bruto. 
Ille  nee  horrificam  sancto  dimovit  ab  ore 
Caesariem  duroque  admisit  gaudia  voltu, — 
Ut  primum  tolli  feralia  viderat  arma, 
Intonsos  rigidam  in  frontem  descendere  canos 
Passus  erat  maestamque  genis  incrcscere  barbam : 
Uni  quippe  vacat  studiis  odiisque  carenti 
Humanum  lugere  genus — nee  foedera  prisci 
Sunt  tem[)tata  tori ;  iusto  quoque  robur  amori 
Restitit.     Hi  mores,  haec  duri  inmota  Catonis 
Secta  fuit,  servare  modum  finemque  tenere 
Naturamque  sequi  patriaeque  inpendere  vitam 
Nee  sibi  sed  toti  genitum  se  credere  mundo. 
Huic  epulae,  vicisse  famem  ;  magnique  penates, 
Summovisse  hiemem  tecto  ;  pretiosaque  vestis, 
Hirtam  membra  super  Romani  more  Quiritis 
Induxisse  togam ;  Venerisque  hie  unicus^  usus. 
Progenies ;  urbi  pater  est  urbique  maritus, 
lustitiae  cultor,  rigidi  servator  honesti,  rr,.  ^ 


unicus  Bentley  :  maximus  MS8. 


1  This  band  went  round  the  tunio. 
84 


BOOK  n 

■  surround  the  bare  arms  with  narrow  band.  Marcia 
made  no  change  but  kept  the  solemnity  of  her 
widow's  weeds,  and  embraced  her  husband  just  as 
she  did  her  sons.  The  purple  band  ^  was  covered  and 
concealed  by  wool  of  funereal  colour.    The  customary 

"light  jesting  was  silent,  nor  was  the  sullen  husband 
greeted  by  the  ceremonial  abuse  in  Sabine  fashion. 

.  No  members  of  the  family  and  no  kinsmen  as- 
sembled :  their  hands  were  joined  in  silence,  and 
they  were  satisfied  with  the  presence  of  Brutus  as 

.'  augur.  The  husband  refused  to  remove  the  shaggy 
growth  from  his  reverend  face ;  nor  did  his 
stern  features  grant  access  to  joy.  (Ever  since  he 
saw  the  weapons  of  ill-omened  war  raised  up,  he 
had  sutTered  the  grey  hair  to  grow  long  over  his 

?  stern  brow  and  the  beard  of  the  mourner  to  spread 
over  his  face ;  for  he  alone,  free  from  love  and 
free  from  hate,  had  leisure  to  wear  mourning 
for  mankind.)  Nor  did  he  seek  to  renew  the 
former  relations  with  liis  wife:  that  iron  nature  was 
proof  even  against  wedded    love.      Such  was    the 

1  character,  such  the  inflexible  rule  of  austere  Cato — 
to  observe  moderation  and  hold  fast  to  the  limit, 
to  follow  nature,  to  give  his  life  for  his  country, 
to  believe  that   he  was  born  to  serve   the   whole 

\i  world  and  not  himself.  To  him  it  was  a  feast  to 
banish  hunger ;  it  was  a  lordly  palace  to  fend  off 
hard  weather  with  a  roof  over  his  head ;  it  was 
fine  raiment  to  draw  over  his  limbs  the  rough  toga 
which  is  a  Roman's  dress  in  time  of  peace.  In  his 
view  the  sole  purpose  of  love  was  offspring;  for 
the  State  he  became  a  husband  and  father;  he 
worshipped  justice  and  practised  uncompromising 
virtue;    he    reserved   his    kindness    for   the    whole 

8s 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

111  coirimune  bonus  ;  nullosque  Catonis  in  actus  390 

Subrepsit  partemque  tulit  sibi  nata  voluptas. 

Interea  trepido  descendens  agmine  Magnus 
Moenia  Dardanii  tenuit  Campana  coloni. 
Haec  placuit  belli  sedes,  hinc  summa  moventera 
Hostis  in  occursum  sparsas  extendere  partes,  395 

Umbrosis  mediam  qua  collibus  Appenninus 
Erigit  Italiam,  nuUoque  a  vertice  tellus 
Altius  inturauit  propiusque  accessit  Olympo, 
Mons  inter  geminas  medius  se  porrigit  undas 
Inferni  superiqae  maris,  collesque  coercent  400 

Hinc  Tyrrhena  vado  frangentes  aequora  Pisae, 
Illinc  Dalraaticis  obnoxia  fluctibus  Ancon. 
Fontibus  hie  vastis  inmensos  concipit  amnes 
Fluminaque  in  gemini  spargit  divortia  ponti. 
(In  laevum  cecidere  latiis  veloxque  Metaurus  405 

Crustumiumque  rapax  et  iuncto  Sapis  Isauro 
Senaque  et  Hadriacas  qui  verbevat  Aufidus  undas  ; 
Quoque  magis  nullum  tellus  se  solvit  in  amnem, 
Eridanus  fractas  devolvit  in  aequora  silvas 
Hesperiamque  exhaurit  aquis.     Hunc  fabula  primum 
Populea  fluvium  ripas  umbrasse  corona,  411 

Cumque  diem  pronum  transverso  limite  ducens 
Succendit  Phaethon  flagrantibus  aethera  loris, 
Gnrgitibus  raptis  penitus  tellure  perusta, 
Hunc  habuisse  pares  Phoebeis  ignibus  undas.  415 

Non  minor  hie  Nilo,  si  non  per  plana  iacentis 
Aegypti  Libycas  Nilus  stagnaret  harenas ; 


1  Capua  was  believed  to  have  been  founded  by  the. Trojan 
Cap3's. 

■-*  Also  called  the  Tyrrhene  and  Adriatic  seas. 

^  Lucan's  readers  must  have  known  that  there  were  rivers 

86 


BOOK   II 

people ;  and  there  was  no  act  of  Cato's  life  where 
selfisli  pleasure  crept  in  and  claimed  a  share. 

Meanwhile  Magnus  marched  away  in  haste  and 
occupied  the  Campanian  walls  founded  by  the 
Trojan.^  Capua  was  chosen  as  the  seat  of  war ;  he 
resolved  to  make  Capua  the  base  of  his  chief  cam- 
paign, and  from  there  to  disperse  and  extend  his 
forces  in  order  to  meet  the  enemy  where  Apennine 
raises  up  the  centre  of  Italy  in  wooded  hills ;  nor  is 
there  any  peak  at  which  earth  rises  higher  and 
approaches  closer  to  the  sky.  Midway  between  the 
two  seas,  the  Lower  and  the  Upper,^  the  mountains 
stretch  ;  and  the  range  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  Pisa, 
where  her  beach  breaks  the  Tyrrhene  sea,  and  on  the 
east  by  Ancona,  which  faces  the  Dalmatian  billows. 
From  vast  springs  the  mountain  engenders  mighty 
rivers  and  scatters  their  streams  along  the  water-sheds 
that  lead  to  two  seas.  (Eastward  flow  the  swift 
Metaurus  and  rushing  Crustumium,theSapis  together 
with  the  Isaurus,  the  Sena,  the  Aufidus  which  buffets 
the  waves  of  the  Adriatic;  and  there  the  Po,  as  mighty 
a  river  as  any  which  earth  discharges,*  snaps  off 
forests  and  sweeps  them  down  to  sea  and  drains  the 
soil  of  Italy.  As  legend  tells,  this  was  the  first  river 
whose  banks  were  shaded  by  a  ring  of  poplars ;  and 
when  Phaethon  drove  the  sun  downwards  athwart  its 
appointed  course  and  kindled  the  sky  with  his  burning 
reins,  till  the  waters  vanished  and  earth  was  burnt  to 
its  core,  this  river  had  streams  sufficient  to  match 
the  sun's  fire.  The  Nile  would  not  be  greater,  did 
it  not  flood  the  Libyan  desert  over  the  flats  of  low- 
lying  Egypt ;  the  Danube  would  be  no  greater,  did 

greater    than    the    Po,    and    mountains    higher    than    the 
Apennines  ;  but  they  did  not  demand  truth  from  poets. 

87 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  minor  hie  Histro,  nisi  quod,  dum  permeat  orbem, 

Hister  casuros  in  quaelibet  aequora  fontes 

Accipit  et  Scythicas  exit  non  solus  in  undas.  i2C 

Dexteriora  petens  montis  declivia  Tliybrim 

Unda  facit  Rutubamque  cavum.      Delabitur  inde 

Vulturn usque  celer  nocturnaeque  editor  aurae 

Sarnus  et  umbrosae  Liris  per  regna  Maricae 

Vestinis  inpulsus  aquis  radensque  Salerni  42f 

Tesca  ^  Siler,  nuUasque  vado  qui  Macra  moratus 

Alnos  vicinae  procurrit  in  aequora  Lunae.) 

Longior  educto  qua  surgit  in  aera  dorso, 

Gallica  rura  videt  devexasque  excipit  Alpes. 

Tunc  Umbris  Marsisque  ferax  domitusque  Sabello      43C 

Vomere,  piniferis  amplexus  rupibus  omnes 

Indigenas  Latii  populos,  non  deserit  ante 

Hesperiam,  quam  cum  Scyllaeis  clauditur  undis, 

Extenditque  suas  in  templa  Lacinia  rupes, 

Longior  Italia,  donee  confinia  pontus  43f 

Solveret  incumbens  terrasque  repelleret  aequor; 

At  postquam  gemino  tellus  elisa  profundo  est, 

Extremi  colles  Siculo  cessere  Peloro. 

Caesar  in  arma  furens  nullas  nisi  sanguine  fuso 
Gaudet  habere  vias,  quod  non  terat  hoste  vacantes     44( 
Hesperiae  fines  vacuosque  inrumpat  in  agros 
Atque  ipsum  non  perdat  iter  consertaque  bellis 
Bella  gerat.     Non  tam  portas  intrare  patentes 
Quam  fregisse  iuvat,  nee  tam  patiente  colono 

*  Tesca  Heinsius  :  tecta  or  culta  ^fS3. 


1  The  Euxine. 

*  The  meaning  is  that  the  river  is  not  navigable. 
'  The  straits  of  Messina. 

*  The  temple  of  Juno  Lacina,  on  the  Gulf  of  Tarentum. 

88 


BOOK   11 

it  not,  in  its  course  over  the  globe,  receive  waters 
that  might  otherwise  fall  into  any  sea,  and  carry 
them  with  it  into  the  Scythian  main.^  But  the 
waters  that  run  down  the  western  slo])es  of  Apennine 
give  birth  to  the  Tiber  and  the  Rutuba  in  its  deep 
channel ;  and  also  from  there  swift  Vulturnus  flows 
down,  and  the  Sarnus  that  sends  forth  exhalations 
by  night;  the  Liris,  driven  by  Vestinian  waters 
through  the  haunts  of  the  wood-nymph,  Marica  ;  the 
Siler  that  grazes  the  rugged  country  of  Salernum  ; 
and  the  Macra,  whose  shallow  stream  delays  no 
ships 2  and  speeds  forward  into  the  sea  of  Luna  near 
at  hand.)  Where  the  Apennines  taper  out  and  rise 
skywards  with  lofty  ridge,  they  look  on  the  land  of 
Gaul  and  come  close  to  the  foot-hills  of  the  Alps. 
Further  south,  the  range  bears  harvests  for  the 
Umbrians  and  Marsians,  and  is  tamed  by  the  Samnite 
ploughshare ;  its  pine-clad  cliffs  embrace  all  the 
native  races  of  Italy,  never  leaving  the  land  till 
barred  by  the  waters  of  Scylla,^  and  stretching  as 
far  as  Lacina's  temple.*  The  ridge  was  once  longer 
than  Itfily  is  now,  before  the  pressure  of  the  sea 
sundered  the  isthmus  and  the  water  drove  back  the 
land  ;  but  when  the  earth  was  crushed  out  by  the 
two  seas,  that  end  of  the  Apennines  was  surrendered 
to  Pelorus  in  Sicily. 

Caesar,  frantic  for  war,  rejoices  to  find  no  passage 
except  by  shedding  blood ;  it  pleases  him  that  the 
land  of  Italy  on  which  he  tramples  supplies  him 
with  a  foe,  that  the  fields  which  he  assaults  are  not 
undefended,  and  that  even  his  marches  are  not 
wasted,  but  battle  follows  battle  with  no  interval 
between.  He  would  rather  burst  a  city  gate  than 
find  it  open  to  admit  him ;  he  would  rather  ravage 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Arva  premi,  quam  si  ferro  populetur  et  igni.  445 

Concessa  pudet  ire  via  civemque  videri. 
Tunc  urbes  Latii  dubiae  varioque  favore 
Ancipites,  quamquam  primo  terrore  ruentis 
Cessurae  belli,  denso  tamen  aggere  firmant 
Moenia  et  abrupto  circumdant  undique  vallo,  450 

Saxorumque  orbes,  et  quae  super  eminus  hostera 
Tela  petant,  altis  murorum  turribus  aptant. 
Pronior  in  Magnum  populus,  pugnatque  minaei 
Cum  terrore  fides ;  ut  cum  mare  possidet  Auster 
Flatibus  horrisonis,  hunc  aequora  tota  secuntur :         455 
Si  rursus  tellus  pulsu  laxata  tridentis 
Aeolii  tumidis  inmittat  fluctibus  Eurum, 
Quamvis  icta  novo,  ventum  tenuere  priorem 
Aequora,  nubiferoque  polus  cum  cesserit  Euro, 
Vindicat  unda  Notum.     Facilis  sed  vertere  mentes    460 
Terror  erat,  dubiamque  fidem  fortuna  ferebat. 

Gens  Etrusca  fuga  trepidi  nudata  Libonis, 
lusque  sui  pulso  iam  perdidit  Umbria  Thermo. 
Nee  gerit  auspiciis  civilia  bella  paternis 
Caesaris  audito  con  versus  nomine  Sulla.  465 

Varus,  ut  admotae  pulsarunt  Auximon  alae. 
Per  diversa  ruens  neglecto  moenia  tergo. 
Qua  silvae,  qua  saxa,  fugit.     Dej)ellitur  area 
Lentulus  Asculea ;  victor  cedentibus  instat 
Devertitque  acies,  solusque  ex  agmine  tanto  470 


1  Seven  generals  are  now  enumerated,  who  all  commauded 
detachments  of  Pompey's  troops  in  N.  Italy. 

90 


BOOK   II 

the  land  with  fire  and  sword  than  overrun  it  without 
protest  from  the  husbandman.  He  scorns  to  advance 
by  an  unguarded  road,  or  to  act  like  a  peaceful  citizen. 
In  this  hour  the  towns  of  Italy,  hesitating  and  waver- 
ing in  their  sympathy  for  this  side  or  that,  though 
ready  to  yield  at  the  first  alarm  of  war's  onset,  never- 
theless strengthen  their  walls  with  many  a  rampart 
and  surround  them  on  all  sides  with  steep  palisades ; 
and  round  stones  and  missiles  to  strike  the  enemy 
from  above  are  fitted  to  the  high  towers  of  the  walls. 
The  inhabitants  favour  Magnus  more,  and  loyalty 
contends  with  the  menace  of  danger.  So,  when  the 
roaring  blast  of  the  South  wind  is  master  of  the  sea, 
all  the  main  is  swayed  by  it;  and  even  if  the  earth, 
opened  again  by  Aeolus  with  his  trident,  lets  loose 
the  East  wind  on  the  swollen  waves,  the  ocean, 
though  smitten  by  the  second  wind,  remains  true  to 
the  first  ;  and,  though  the  sky  surrenders  to  the 
rainy  East  wind,  the  sea  asserts  the  power  of  the 
South.  But  danger  was  quick  to  change  men's 
minds,  and  the  turn  of  events  swept  away  wavering 
allegiance. 

The  men  of  Etruria  are  left  defenceless  by  the 
hasty  flight  of  Libo,^  and  the  rout  of  Thermus  has 
already  taken  from  Umbria  the  power  of  free  action. 
Sulla,  too,  has  not  the  fortune  of  his  father  in  civil 
war,  but  turns  to  flight  on  hearing  the  mere  name  of 
Caesar.  Varus,  when  the  advancing  cavalry  knocked 
at  the  gates  of  Auximum,  rushed  through  the  opposite 
gate  where  the  foe  had  left  the  rear  unguarded,  and 
fled  through  forests  and  hills.  Lentulus  was  dis- 
lodged from  the  fortress  of  Asculum,  and  the 
conqueror,  pressing  hard  on  their  retreat,  cut  off  the 
army  :  alone  of  all  the  force  the  general  escaped,  and 

91 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Dux  fugit  et  nullas  ducentia  signa  cohortes. 
Tu  quoque  nudatam  commissae  deseris  arcem, 
Scipio,  Nuceriae,  quamquam  firmissima  pubes 
His  sedeat  castris,  iampridem  Caesaris  armis 
Parthorum  seducta  metu,  qua  Gallica  damna  475 

Supplevit  Magnus,  dumque  ipse  ad  bella  vocaret, 
Donavit  socero  Romani  sanguinis  usum. 
At  te  Corfini  validis  circumdata  muris 
Tecta  tenent,  pugnax  Doiniti ;  tua  classica  servat 
Oppositus  quondam  pollute  tiro  Miloni.  480 

Ut  procul  inmensam  campo  consurgere  nubem 
Ardentesque  acies  percussis  sole  corusco 
Conspexit  telis,  "  Socii,  decurrite  "  dixit 
"  Fluminis  ad  ripas  undaeque  inraergite  pontem. 
Et  tu  montanis  totus  nunc  fontibus  exi  485 

Atque  omnes  trahe^  gurges,  aquas,  ut  spumeus  alnos 
Discussa  conpage  feras.      Hoc  limite  bellum 
Haereat,  hac  hostis  lentus  terat  otia  ripa. 
Praecipitem  cohibete  ducem  :  victoria  nobis 
Hie  primum  stans  Caesar  erit."     Nee  plura  locutus    490 
Devolvit  rapidum  nequiquam  moenibus  agmen. 
Nam  prior  e  campis  ut  conspicit  amne  solute 
Rumpi  Caesar  iter,  calida  proclamat  ^  ab  ira : 
"  Non  satis  est  muris  latebras  quaesisse  pavori  ? 
Obstruitis  campos  fluviisque  arcere  paratis,  495 

Ignavi  ?  non  si  tumido  me  gurgite  Ganges* 
Summoveat,  stabit  iam  flumine  Caesar  in  ullo 

*  proclamat  Bentley  :  prolatus  M88. 


^.*  In  53  B.C.  Ponipey  lent  a  legion  to  Caesar  in  Gaul;  but  the 
men  were  recalled  to  Italy  in  50  B.O, 
2  Cf.  i.  323. 

92 


BOOK   II 

the  standards  that  brought  no  troops  behind  them. 
Scipio  too  abandons  the  stronghold  of  Nuceria  and 
leaves  his  charge  defenceless^  though  here  were 
encamped  stalwart  soldiers,  withdrawn  long  ago 
from  Caesar's  army  because  of  the  Parthian  peril  ; 
with  these  Magnus  once  made  good  the  losses  in 
Gaul,  and  granted  a  loan  of  Roman  lives  to  his 
kinsman,  until  he  himself  should  summon  them  to 
war.* 

But  Domitius,  eager  for  battle,  lay  behind  strong 
walls  in  the  city  of  Corfinium ;  and  under  his 
command  were  the  men  who,  as  recruits,  had  been 
arrayed  against  bloodstained  Milo.^  When  Domitius 
saw  far  away  a  vast  cloud  of  dust  rising  from  the 
plain,  and  the  glitter  of  a  host  whose  weapons  were 
struck  by  the  sunlight,  "  Comrades,"  he  cried  "  speed 
down  to  the  river  banks  and  sink  the  bridge  beneath 
the  water.  I  call  on  the  stream  at  once  to  issue  forth 
in  might  from  its  springs  in  the  mountains  and  bring 
hither  all  its  waters,  to  carry  down  with  foaming 
current  the  planks  of  the  shattered  structure.  At 
this  point  must  the  war  be  stayed  ;  on  these  banks 
let  the  foe  waste  time  in  idleness !  Check  ye  his 
headlong  haste  ;  it  will  be  a  victory  to  us  if  Caesar 
is  first  brought  to  a  halt  here."  Without  another 
word  he  hurried  the  soldiers  down  from  the  walls, 
but  in  vain.  Caesar  got  the  start  of  him  :  from  the 
plain  he  saw  that  they  were  letting  loose  the  river 
to  interrupt  his  march  ;  and  in  hot  anger  he  cried 
out :  "  Cowards  !  not  content  with  seeking  a  hiding- 
place  behind  walls  for  your  fear,  do  you  barricade 
the  plains  and  seek  to  keep  me  off  by  means  of 
rivers?  After  crossing  the  Rubicon,  never  again 
will  Caesar  be  stopped  by  any  stream,  not  even  if  the 

93 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Post  Rubiconis  aquas.     Equitum  properate  catervae, 

Ite  simul  pedites,  ruiturum  ascendite  pontem." 

Haec  ubi  dicta,  levis  totas  accepit  habenas  600 

In  campum  sonipes,  crebroque  simillima  nimbo 

Trans  ripam  validi  torserunt  tela  lacerti. 

Ingreditur  pulsa  fluvium  statione  vacantem 

Caesar,  et  ad  tutas  hostis  conpellitur  arces. 

Et  iam  moturas  ingentia  pondera  turres  505 

Erigit,  et  mediis  subrepit  vinea  niuris  : 

Ecce,  nefas  belli !  reseratis  agmina  portis 

Captivum  traxere  ducem,  civisque  superbi 

Constitit  ante  pedes.     Voltu  tamen  alta  minaci 

Nobilitas  recta  ferrum  cervice  poposcit.  610 

Scit  Caesar  poenamque  peti  veniamque  timeri. 

"  Vive,  licet  nolis,  et  nostro  munere  "  dixit 

"  Cerne  diem.     Victis  iam  spes  bona  partibus  esto 

Exemplumque  mei.     Vel,  si  libet,  arma  retempta, 

Et  nihil  hac  venia,  si  viceris,  ipse  paciscor."  615 

Fatur  et  astrictis  laxari  vincula  palmis 

Imperat.     Heu  quanto  melius  vel  caede  peracta 

Parcere  Romano  potuit  fortuna  pudori ! 

Poenarum  extremum  civi,  quod  castra  secutus 

Sit  patriae  Magnumque  ducem  totumque  senatum,    520 

Ignosci.     Premit  ille  graves  interritus  iras 

Et  secum  :  "  Romamne  petes  pacisque  recessus 

Degener  ?  in  medios  belli  non  ire  furores 

*  /.«.  the  bridge  over  the  stream. 
94 


J'^A3IJ300K    II 

Gnnges  blocked  his  way  with  its  swollen,  flood.  Let 
tlie  squadrons  of  horse  gallop  forward  and  the 
infantry  also  advance ;  and  mount  the  bridge  ere  it 
falls."  When  thus  he  spoke,  the  light  horse  charged 
in  full  gallop  across  the  plain,  and  strong  arms 
hurled  javelins  like  heavy  rain  over  the  bank. 
Driving  back  the  guard,  Caesar  occupies  the  un- 
defended stream,^  and  the  enemy  are  forced  back  to 
the  safety  of  the  citadel.  Next  Caesar  erects  to  vers 
to  launch  huge  masses  of  stone,  and  the  penthouse 
creeps  up  to  the  walls  that  divide  the  armies.  But 
see  ! — abomination  of  war  ! — the  gates  are  opened 
and  the  soldiers  drag  their  general  a  prisoner. 
Domitius  halted  in  the  presence  of  his  arrogant 
equal ;  yet  with  threatening  mien  and  neck  unbent, 
his  lofty  soul  demanded  death  by  the  sword.  But 
knowing  that  he  sought  punishment  and  feared 
pardon,  Caesar  addressed  him  :  ''  Live  on,  against 
your  will,  and  see  the  sun  by  my  generosity.  Be  an 
earnest  of  hope  to  your  friends  when  they  are  con- 
quered, and  enable  them  to  judge  of  me ;  even,  if 
you  choose,  draw  the  sword  again  ;  and,  if  you  prove 
victorious,  1  make  no  bargain  for  myself  on  the 
strength  of  mercy  shown  to  you."  With  these 
words  he  bids  the  bonds  be  loosened  from  the  fettered 
hands.  How  much  better,  if  he  had  been  slain 
outright,  would  Fortune  have  respected  the  honour 
of  a  Roman  !  This  surpasses  all  other  penalties,  that 
for  joining  the  army  of  his  country — an  army  led  by 
Magnus  and  including  the  whole  Senate — a  patriot 
should  be  pardoned  !  Unterrified,  Domitius  hid  his 
grievous  wrath,  and  thus  addressed  himself :  "  Will 
you,  thus  disgraced,  seek  peaceful  retirement  at 
Rome  ?     Haste  rather  to  the  centre  of  war's  horrors 

95 


M.   ANNAEUS  LUCANUS 

I^m  dudum  moriture  paras  ?  rue  certus  et  omnes 
Lucis  riimpe  moras  et  Caesaris  efFuge  munus."  626 

Nescius  interea  ca])ti  ducis  arma  parabat 
Magnus,  ut  inmixto  firmaret  robore  partes, 
lainque  secuturo  iussurus  classica  Phoebo 
Temptandasque  ratus  moturi  militis  iras 
Adloquitur  tacitas  veneranda  voce  cohortes  :  630 

'f  O  scelerum  ultores  melioraque  signa  seciiti, 
O  vere  Romana  manus,  quibus  arma  senatus 
Non  privata  dedit,  votis  deposcite  pugnam. 
Ardent  Hesperii  saevis  populatibus  agri, 
Gallica  per  gelidas  rabies  effunditur  Alpes,  535 

lam  tetigit  sanguis  pollutes  Caesaris  enses.  ^   t 

Di  melius,  belli  tulimus  quod  damna  priores :  r 

Coeperit  inde  nefas,  iam  iam  me  praeside  Roma 
Supplicium  poenamque  petat.     Neque  enim  ista  vocari 
Proelia  iusta  decet,  patriae  sed  vindicis  iram  ;  540 

Nee  magis  hoc  bellum  est,  quam  quom  Catilina  paravit 
Arsuras  in  tecta  faces  sociusque  furoris 
Lentulus  exertique  manus  vaesana  Cethegi. 
O  rabies  miseranda  ducis  !  cum  fata  Camillis 
Te,  Caesar,  magnisque  velint  miscere  Metellis,  645 

Ad  Cinnas  Mariosque  venis.     Sternere  profecto^ 
Ut  Catulo  iacuit  Lepidus,  nostrasque  secures 
Passus,  Sicanio  tegitur  qui  Carbo  sepulchre, 
Quique  feros  movit  Sertorius  exul  Hiberos. 

^  It  was  a  custom  with  this  family  to  wear  no  tunic  under  the 
toga,  so  that  the  arms  were  bare  :  comp.  vi.  794. 

96 


f-.UVIADI  BOOK   II 

and  die  as  soon  as  may  be.  Speed  straight  to  your 
mark,  snap  every  tie  that  binds  you  to  life,  and 
escape  Caesar's  generosity  !  ** 

Magnus  meanwhile,  unaware  that  Domitius  had 
been  made  prisoner,  was  taking  the  field,  in  order  to 
encourage  liis  adherents  by  an  addition  of  strength. 
On  the  following  day  he  intended  to  bid  his  trumpets 
sound,  and  now  thought  fit  to  test  the  ardour  of  his 
men  before  they  marched.     There  was  silence  in  the 
ranks    as     that     august     voice     addressed     them : 
*'  Avengers  of  crime  and  followers  of  the  rightful 
standards,  Romans  indeed,  whom  the    Senate    has 
armed  to  defend  your   country,  declare   now    your 
eagerness  for  battle.     The  fields  of  Italy  are  on  fire 
with  savage  devastation,  the  fury  of  Gaul  is  pouring 
over  the  wintry  Alps,  blood  has  already  touched  and 
defiled  the  swords  of  Caesar.     I  thank  Heaven  that 
we  first  have  borne  the  losses  of  war ;  be  it  so !  let 
the  wickedness  begin  with  the  other  side  ;  but  now 
must    Rome,   under    my    leadership,    demand    the 
penalty  and  inflict  the  punishment.     For  the  battles 
you  must  fight  should  not  be  called  battles  but  the 
wrath  and  vengeance  of  our  country.     This  is  net 
war,  any  more  than  it  was  when  brands  to  burn  our 
houses  were  prepared  by  Catiline,  and  by  Lentulus, 
his  partner  in  wickedness,  and  by  the  frantic  hand  of 
Cethegus-the    man    of    the    naked    arm.^     What 
pitiable  madness  is  Caesar's  !     Though  Fortune  is 
ready  to  raise  him  to  the  height  of  a  Camillus  or 
great  Metellus,  he  joins  the  ranks  of  such  as  Marius 
and  Cinna.     His  defeat  is  certain,  just  as  Lepidus 
was  overthrown  by  Catulus,  and  as  Carbo,  who  now 
lies  in  a  Sicilian  grave,  was  beheaded  by  my  orders ; 
and  so  Sertorius  fell,  who  in  exile  stirred  the  fierce 

97 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quamquam,  si  qua  fides,  his  te  quoque  iungere,  Caesar, 

Invideo  nostrasque  manus  quod  Roma  furenti  651 

Opposuit.      Parthorum  utinam  post  proelia  sospes 

Et  Scythicis  Crassus  victor  remeasset  ab  oris, 

Ut  simili  causa  caderes,  quoi  ^  Spartacus,  hosti.  ; 

Te  quoque  si  superi  titulis  accedere  nostris  655 

lusserunt,  valet  en  !  torquendo  dextera  pile, 

Fervidus  haec  iterum  circa  praecordia  sanguis 

Incaluit ;  disces  non  esse  ad  bella  fugaces. 

Qui  pacem  potuere  pati.     Licet  ille  solutum 

Defectumque  vocet,  ne  vos  mea  terreat  aetas :  660 

Dux  sit  in  his  castris  senior,  dum  miles  in  illis. 

Quo  potuit  civem  populus  perducere  liber, 

Ascendi,  supraque  nihil,  nisi  regna,  reliqui. 

Non  privata  cupis,  Romana  quisquis  in  urbe 

Pompeium  transire  paras.     Hinc  consul  uterque,        665 

Hinc  acies  statura  ducum  est.     Caesarne  senatus 

Victor  erit.''  non  tam  caeco  trahis  omnia  cursu, 

Teque  nihil,  Fortuna,  pudet.      lunctisne  ^  rebellis 

Gallia  iam  lustris  aetasque  inpensa  labori 

Dant  animos  ?     Rheni  gelidis  quod  fugit  ab  undis      670 

Oceanumque  vocans  incerti  stagna  profundi 

Territa  quaesitis  ostendit  terga  Britannis  ? 

An  vanae  tumuere  minae,  quod  fama  furoris 

Rxpulit  armatam  patriis  e  sedibus  urbem  ? 

Heu  demens  !  non  te  fugiunt,  me  cuncta  secuntur. 

^  quoi  Housman  :  quod  or  qua  MSS. 

*  lunctis  suggested  by  Housman  :  multis  MSS.  :  geminis  Bentley. 

— . _ . , ) 

*  The  army  of  slaves  and  gladiators  led  by  Spartacus  was 
destroyed  by  Crassus  in  71  B.C. 

2  So  Livy  says  of  the  300  Fabii,  **  every  one  of  them  was  fit 
to  command  "  {qvorxim  neminem  ducem  sperneres). 
2  The  North  Sea  with  its  tides  is  meant. 

98 


BOOK   II 

Spaniards  to  war.  And  yet,  upon  my  honour,  I  am 
loth  to  couple  Caesar  even  with  these,  and  I  grieve 
that  Rome  has  set  my  arm  to  stop  his  madness. 
Would  that  Crassus  had  returned  after  battle  with 
the  Parthians  alive  and  victorious  from  the  borders 
of  Scythia,  that  Caesar,  not  less  guilty  than  Spartacus,* 
might  be  overthrown  by  the  same  antagonist.  But 
if  Heaven  has  ordained  that  he  too  should  add  to  my 
fame,  see  !  this  right  hand  has  strength  to  hurl  the 
pilum,  the  blood  about  this  heart  has  kindled  to  a 
glow  once  again  ;  he  shall  leain  that  men  who  were 
able  to  put  up  with  peace  are  no  cowards  in  war. 
Though  he  call  me  feeble  and  worn  out,  you  must 
not  be  disquieted  by  my  age  :  that  I  am  older  than 
Caesar  matters  not,  provided  his  soldiers  are  older 
than  mine.  I  have  risen  as  high  as  a  free  people 
could  exalt  a  citizen,  and  above  me  nothing  remains 
save  tyranny.  Whoever  schemes  to  rise  above 
Pompey  in  the  Roman  State  covets  too  much  for  a 
mere  subject.  On  my  side  both  consuls  will  take  their 
stand,  and  on  my  side  an  army  made  up  of  generals.^ 
Shall  Caesar  defeat  the  Sen  ite  }  No  I  Fortune  does 
not  bring  on  the  course  of  events  so  bhndly ;  she  is 
not  so  utterly  shameless.  What  emboldens  Caesar  ? 
Is  it  Gaul,  which  twice  five  years  have  not  tamed  ?  Is 
it  a  lifetime  devoted  to  the  task  ?  Is  it  because  he 
fled  from  the  cold  waters  of  Rhine,  and  gave  the 
name  of  Ocean  to  the  pools  of  a  sea  ^  that  was 
neither  sea  nor  land,  and  turned  his  back  in  panic 
to  the  Britons  whom  he  went  out  of  his  way  to 
attack  ?  Or  have  his  idle  threats  risen  high, 
because  the  report  of  his  madness  has  driven  the 
people  forth  in  arms  from  their  native  city .''  Poor 
madman  !  It  is  not  you  before  whom  all  things  flee, 

99 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Qui  cum  signa  tuli  toto  fulgentia  ponto. 

Ante  bis  exactum  quam  Cynthia  conderet  orbem, 

Omne  fretum  metuens  pelagi  pirata  reliquit 

Angustaque  domum  terrarum  in  sede  poposcit. 

Idem  per  Scythici  profugum  divortia  ponti 

Indomitum  regem  Romanaque  fata  morantem 

Ad  mortem  Sulla  felicior  ire  coegi. 

Pars  mundi  mihi  nulla  vacat ;  sed  tota  tenetur 

Terra  meis,  quocumque  iacet  sub  sole,  trop^eis : 

Hinc  me  victorem  gelidas  ad  Phasidos  undas 

Arctos  habet ;  calida  medius  mihi  cognitus  axis 

Aegypto  atque  umbras  nusquam  flectente  Syene ; 

Occasus  mea  iura  timent  Tethynque  fugacem 

Qui  ferit  Hesperius  post  omnia  flumina  Baetis. 

Me  domitus  cognovit  Arabs,  me  Marte  feroces 

Heniochi  notique  erepto  vellere  Colchi. 

Cappadoces  mea  signa  timent  et  dedita  sacris 

Incerti  ludaea  dei  mollisque  Sophene. 

Armenios  Cilicasque  feros  Taurumque  subegi. 

Quod  socero  bellum  praeter  civile  reliqui  ?  "  591 

Verba  ducis  nullo  partes  clamore  secuntur 
Nee  matura  petunt  promissae  classica  pugnae. 
Sensit  et  ipse  metum  Magnus,  placuitque  referri 
Signa  nee  in  tantae  discrimina  mittere  pugnae 
iam  victum  fama.  non  visi  Caesaris  agmen. 
Pulsus  ut  armentis  primo  certamine  taurus 
Silvarum  secreta  petit  vacuosque  per  agros 


1  Mithradates,  King  of  Pontus.  He  was  driven  to  tak 
refuge  in  his  Bosporan  kingdom  (the  Crimea)  and  sought  deati 
there  in  63  b.o. 
lOO 


BOOK   II 

but  I  whom  all  things  follow.  When  I  bore  the 
standards  that  shone  over  all  the  sea,  before  the 
moon  had  twice  filled  out  her  disk  and  hidden  it 
again^  the  pirates,  scared  from  the  sea  and  abandon- 
ing every  creek,  begged  for  a  narrow  plot  of  dry 
land  to  live  on.  Again,  when  the  indomitable  king^ 
obstructed  Rome's  destiny,  1  drove  him  in  flight 
along  the  isthmus  of  the  Scythian  sea ;  and  I,  more 
fortunate  than  Sulla,  forced  him  to  die.  No  part  of 
the  world  have  I  left  untouched  :  the  whole  earth, 
beneath  whatever  clime  it  lies,  is  occupied  by  my 
trophies.  On  one  side,  the  North  knows  my  victories 
by  the  icy  waters  of  the  Phasis  ;  the  torrid  zone  is 
known  to  me  in  sultry  Egypt  and  Syene  where  the 
shadows  fall  perpendicular ;  my  power  is  dreaded  in 
the  West,  and  where  Spanish  Baetis,  remotest  of  all 
rivers,  beats  back  the  ebbing  tide.  The  Arab  owns 
me  his  conqueror  ;  so  do  the  warlike  Heniochi,  and 
the  Colclnans  famous  for  the  fleece  they  were  robbed 
of.  My  standards  overawe  Cappadocia,  and  Judaea 
given  over  to  the  worship  of  an  unknown  god,  and 
effeminate  Sophene ;  I  subdued  the  Armenians,  the 
fierce  Cilicians,  and  the  range  of  Taurus.  I  have 
left  my  kinsman  no  war  to  wage,  except  civil  war." 

The  general's  speech  was  followed  by  no  applause 
from  his  supporters,  nor  did  his  men  demand  at  once 
the  signal  for  the  promised  battle.  Magnus  himself 
was  conscious  of  their  fear ;  and  it  was  decided  to 
recall  the  standards,  rather  than  expose  to  the 
hazard  of  a  decisive  engagement  an  army  already 
beaten  by  the  rumour  of  Caesar  before  they  saw 
him.  When  a  bull  is  driven  from  the  herd  by  his 
first  defeat,  he  seeks  the  recesses  of  the  forest,  or 
spends  his  solitary  banishment  in  the  fields;  there 

lOI 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Exul  in  adversis  explorat  cornua  truncis 
Nee  redit  in  pastus,  nisi  eum  cerviee  recepta 
Excussi  placuere  tori ;  mox  reddita  victor 
Quoslibet  in  saltus  eomitantibus  agmina  taiiris 
Invito  pastore  trahit :  sic  viribus  inpar 
Tradidit  Hesperiam  profugusque  per  Apula  rura 
Brundisii  tutas  concessit  Magnus  in  arces. 

Ur])s  est  Dictaeis  olim  possessa  colonis, 
Qiios  Creta  profugos  vexere  per  aequora  puppes 
Cecropiae,  victum  mentitis  Thesea  velis. 
Hinc  latus  angustum  iam  se  cogentis  in  artum 
Hesperiae  tenuem  producit  in  aequora  bnguanj, 
Hadriacas  flexis  claudit  quae  cornibus  undas. 
Nee  tamen  hoc  artis  inmissum  faucibus  aequor 
Portus  erat,  si  non  violentos  insula  Coros 
Exciperet  saxis  lassasque  refunderet  undas. 
Hinc  illinc  montes  scopulosae  rupis  aperto 
Opposuit  natura  mari  flatusque  removit, 
Ut  tremulo  starent  contentae  fune  carinae. 
Hinc  late  patet  omne  fretum,  seu  vela  ferantur 
In  portus,  Corcyra,  tuos,  seu  laeva  petatur 
Illyris  lonias  vergens  Epidamnos  in  undas. 
Hue  fuga  nautarum,  cum  totas  Hadria  vires 
Movit  et  in  nubes  abiere  Ceraunia  cumque 
Spumoso  Calaber  perfunditur  aequore  Sason. 

Ergo,  ubi  nulla  fides  rebus  post  terga  relictis 
Nee  licet  ad  duros  Martem  convertere  Hiberos, 


1  The  story  is  told  at  length   in   Catullus   64,   212  ff.  ;    the 
colour  of  the  sails  gave  the  false  news. 
*  An  island. 

I02 


BOOK   II 

he  tests  his  horns  upon  the  tree-trunks  for 
oj)})onents ;  nor  does  he  return  to  the  pasture  till  he 
has  recovered  strength  and  approves  of  his  starting 
muscles ;  but  when  he  has  conquered  his  rival  and 
got  back  his  herd,  he  leads  them,  accompanied  by 
the  bulls,  to  what  glades  he  will,  and  defies  the 
herdsman.  Thus  Pompey  surrendered  Italy  to  his 
stronger  rival,  and  fled  through  the  open  country  of 
Apulia  till  he  found  a  safe  retreat  in  the  fortress  of 
Brundisium. 

Of  yore  this  city  was  occupied  by  men  of  Dicte — 
Cretan  exiles,  who  were  borne  across  the  sea  on 
Athenian  ships  with  the  sails  that  falsely  told  that 
Theseus  had  been  conquered.^  At  this  point  Italy 
grows  narrow,  and  her  straitened  border  puts  forth 
a  slender  tongue  of  land  into  the  sea — a  tongue 
which  encloses  waters  of  the  Adriatic  within  curving 
horns.  Yet  the  water  that  makes  its  way  through 
the  narrow  entrance  would  be  no  harbour,  but  for 
an  island,  which  confronts  the  fierce  northern  gales 
with  a  barrier  of  rock  and  repels  the  wearied  waves. 
On  both  sides  Nature  has  set  masses  of  craggy  cliff 
to  meet  the  open  sea,  and  has  kept  off  the  blasts, 
'that  ships  might  ride  there  at  anchor,  content  with 
a  swaying  cable.  From  here  all  the  sea  is  visible  far 
and  wide,  whether  the  ship  is  bound  for  the  ports  of 
Corcyra  or  turns  to  the  left,  where  Illyrian  Epidamnos 
slopes  down  towards  the  Ionian  sea.  Here  the 
mariner  takes  refuge,  when  the  Adriatic  puts  forth 
^all  its  might,  when  the  Ceraunian  mountains  are  lost 
in  cloud,  and  when  Sason  ^  in  Calabria  is  drenched 
with  spray. 

Pompey  felt  no  confidence  in  the  success  of  the 
cause  he  had  left  behind  him  :  nor  could  he  transfer 
the  war  to  the  land  of  the  hardy  Spaniards,  because 

103 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Cum  mediae  iaceant  inmensis  tractibus  Alpes,  630 

Tum  subole  e  taiita  natum,  cui  firmior  aetas, 

Adfatur :  "  Mundi  iubeo  temptare  recessus  : 

Euphraten  Nilumque  move,  quo  nominis  usque 

Nostri  fama  venit,  quas  est  volgata  per  urbes 

Post  me  Roma  ducem.     Sparsos  per  rura  colonos       635 

Redde  mari  Cilicas  ;  Pharios  hinc  concute  reges 

Tigraiiemque  meum  ;  nee  Pharnaeis  arma  relinquas, 

Admoiieo,  nee  tu  populos  utraque  vagantes 

Armenia  Pontique  feras  per  litora  gentes 

Riphaeasque  manus  et  quas  tenet  aequore  denso        640 

Pigra  palus  Scythici  patiens  Maeotia  plaustri, 

Et — quid  plura  moror  ?  totos  mea,  nate,  per  ortus 

Bella  feres  totoque  urbes  agitabis  in  orbe 

Perdomitas  ;  omnes  redeant  in  castra  triumphi. 

At  vos,  qui  Latios  signatis  nomine  fastos,  646 

Primus  in  Epirum  Boreas  agat ;  inde  per  arva 

Graiorum  Macetumque  novas  adquirite  vires, 

Dum  paci  dat  tempus  hiemps."     Sic  fatur,  et  omnes 

lussa  gerunt  solvuntque  cavas  a  litore  puppes. 

At  numquam  patiens  pacis  longaeque  quietis  GGO 

Armorum,  ne  quid  fatis  mutare  liceret, 
Adsequitur  generique  premit  vestigia  Caesar. 
Sufficerent  aliis  primo  tot  moenia  cursu 
Rapta,  tot  oppressae  depulsis  hostibus  arces, 
Ipsa,  caput  mundi,  bellorum  maxima  merces,  655 

Roma  capi  facilis ;  sed  Caesar  in  omnia  praeceps, 

1  Cnacus  Pompeius  Magnus:  the  younger  was  Sextus. 

2  The  Sea  of  Azov. 

*  The  consuls,  Lentulus  and  C.  Marcellus. 

104 


BOOK    II 

the  vast  extent  of  the  Alps  lay  between  ;  and  there- 
fore he  thus  addressed  the  elder  of  his  noble  sons  ^  : 
*'  I  bid  you  explore  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Stir  up 
the  Euphrates  and  the  Nile — every  region  where  the 
glory  of  my  fame  penetrates,  every  city  where  the 
name  of  Rome  became  famous  alter  my  exploits. 
Bring  back  to  the  sea  the  Cilician  colonists  now 
dispersed  over  the  land ;  next  rouse  up  the  sove- 
reigns of  Egypt  and  Tigranes  whom  I  made  king. 
I  bid  you  pay  heed  also  to  the  army  of  Pharnaces, 
the  nomad  races  of  the  two  Armenias,  the  savage 
nations  along  the  shores  of  the  Black  Sea,  the  Car- 
pathian hordes,  and  the  men  whom  the  sluggish 
Maeotian  mere,^  trodden  by  Scythian  waggons, 
maintains  on  its  frozen  expanse.  But  why  detain 
you  longer.'*  Carry  through  all  the  East  the  stand- 
ard of  your  sire,  and  rouse  to  arms  the  cities  I  have 
conquered  all  the  world  over :  let  all  over  whom  I 
have  triumphed  repair  to  my  camp.  Next,  you  two 
who  date  by  your  names  the  Roman  calendar,^  the 
first  North  wind  must  waft  you  to  Epirus.  Thence 
seek  fresh  strength  in  the  lands  of  Greece  and 
Macedon,  while  winter  grants  time  for  peace." 
Thus  Pompey  spoke,  and  they  all  obeyed  his  bidding 
and  loosed  their  hollow  ships  from  the  shore. 

But  Caesar,  ever  impatient  of  peace  or  long  cessa- 
tion from  warfare,  and  fearing  that  Fortune  might 
have  power  to  work  some  change,  follows  close  and 
dogs  the  steps  of  his  son-in-law.  Others  might  be 
content  after  seizing  so  many  cities  at  the  first 
assault,  after  surprising  so  many  strongholds  and 
dislodging  their  garrisons,  and  after  seeing  Rome 
itself,  the  capital  of  the  world  and  the  chief  prize  of 
war,  an  easy  prey ;  but  Caesar,  headlong  in  all  his 
designs,    thought    nothing    done    while    anything 

105 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nil  actum  credens,  cum  quid  superesset  agendum, 

Instat  atrox  et  adhuc,  quamvis  possederit  omnem 

Italiam^  extreme  sedeat  quod  litore  Magnus, 

Communem  tamen  esse  dolet.     Nee  rursus  aperto     660 

Vult  hostes  errare  freto,  sed  molibus  undas 

Obstruit  et  latum  deiectis  rupibus  aequor. 

Cedit  in  inmensum  cassus  labor :  omnia  pontus 

Haurit  saxa  vorax  montesque  inmiscet  harenis : 

Ut  maris  Aeolii^  medias  si  celsus  in  undas  665 

Depellatur  Eryx,  nullae  tamen  aequore  rupes 

Emiheant^  vel  si  convolso  vertice  Gaurus 

Decidat  in  fundum  penitus  stagnantis  Averni. 

Ergo  ubi  nulla  vado  tenuit  sua  pondera  moles, 

Tunc  placuit  caesis  innectere  vincula  silvis  670 

Roboraque  inmensis  late  religare  catenis. 

Tales  fama  canit  tumidum  super  aequora  Persen 

Construxisse  vias,  multum  cum  pontibus  ausus 

Europamque  Asiae  Sestonque  admovit  Abydo 

Incessitque  fretum  rapidi  super  Hellesponti,  675 

Non  Eurum  Zepbyrumque  timens,  cum  vela  ratesque 

In  medium  deferret  Atlion.     Sic  ora  profundi 

Artantur  casu  nemorum  ;  tunc  aggere  multo 

Surgit  opus,  longaeque  tremunt  super  aequora  turres. 

Pompeius  tellure  nova  conpressa  profundi  680 

Ora  videns  curis  animum  mordacibus  angit, 
Ut  reseret  pelagus  spargatque  per  aequora  bellum. 
Saepe  Noto  plenae  tensisque  rudentibus  actae 

^  Aeolii  Bentley :  Aegaei  M88. 

^  Xerxes. 
io6 


BOOK    II 

remained  to  do.  He  pressed  fiercely  forwards  ;  and, 
though  he  was  master  of  all  Italy,  he  resented  that 
the  land  was  still  shared  between  them  ;  for  Magnus 
retained  a  foothold  on  the  margin  of  the  sea.  But 
unwilling,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  enemy  should 
range  freely  over  the  deep,  he  blocks  the  sea  with 
masonry  and  casts  down  rocks  into  the  wide  waters. 
0<,,  In  vain  the  endless  labour  was  carried  on ;  for  the 
greedy  main  swallowed  down  every  boulder  and 
mingled  the  huge  heaps  with  her  sands.  So,  if 
Mount  Eryx  were  thrown  down  into  the  midst  of  the 
Aeolian  sea,  or  if  Gaurus,  with  summit  wrenched 
from  its  place,  were  sunk  deep  down  into  the 
•  Avernian  pool,  nevertheless  no  cliffs  would  emerge 
from  the  surface  of  the  waters.  Therefore,  when  no 
pile  of  stone  stood  steady  on  the  bottom,  Caesar  next 
resolved  to  fell  trees  and  bind  them  together,  and  to 
make  fast  a  wide  expanse  of  timber  with  long 
chains.  Such,  by  the  report  of  fame,  was  the  road 
built  over  the  sea  by  the  proud  Persian,^  when, 
greatly  daring,  he  brought  Europe  near  to  Asia 
and  Sestos  to  Abydos  by  his  bridges,  and  passed  on 
foot  over  the  straits  of  fast-flowing  Hellespont ;  East 
wind  and  West  wind  had  no  terrors  for  him,  since  he 
conveyed  his  ships  under  sail  to  the  centre  of  Mount 
Athos.  Thus  the  egress  to  the  deep  was  straitened 
by  the  felling  of  the  forest ;  soon  the  work  rose  high 
with  many  a  mound  of  earth,  and  high  towers 
swayed  above  the  sea. 

When  Pompey  saw  his  exit  to  the  sea  narrowed 
by  new-made  land,  his  mind  was  racked  with  distress 
and  doubt  how  he  might  unbar  the  deep  and  spread 
his  forces  over  the  main.  Again  and  again  his 
vessels,  driven  along  before  the  wind  with  straining 
cordage,   passed   right   through   the    obstacle    that 

107 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ipsa  maris  per  claustra  rates  fastigia  molis 

Discussere  salo  spatiumque  dedere  carinis,  685 

Tortaque  per  tenebras  validis  ballista  lacertis 

Multifidas  iaculata  faces.     Ut  tempora  tandem 

Furtivae  placuere  fugae,  ne  litora  clamor 

Nauticus  exagitet,  neu  bucina  dividat  horas, 

Neu  tuba  praemonitos  perducat  ad  aequora  nautas,     690 

Praecepit  sociis.     lam  coeperat  ultima  Virgo 

Phoebum  laturas  ortu  praecedere  Chelas, 

Cum  tacitas  solvere  rates.     Non  ancliora  voces 

Movit,  dum  spissis  avellitur  uncus  harenis ; 

Dum  iuga  curvantur  mali  dumque  ardua  pinus  695 

Erigitur,  pavidi  classis  siluere  magistri, 

Strictaque  pendentes  deducunt  carbasa  nautae 

Nee  quatiunt  validos,  ne  sibilet  aura,  rudentes. 

Dux  etiam  votis  hoc  te,  Fortuna,  precatur, 

Quam  retinere  vetas,  liceat  sibi  perdere  saltem  700 

Italiam.     Vix  fata  sinunt ;  nam  murmure  vasto 

Inpulsum  rostris  sonuit  mare,  fluctuat  unda, 

Totque  carinarum  permixtis  aequora  sulcis 

Eruta  fervescunt  lilusque  frementia  pulsant.^ 

Ergo  hostes  portis,  quas  omnes  solverat  urbis 
Cum  fato  conversa  fides,  murisque  recepti  705 

Praecipiti  cursu  flexi  per  cornua  portus 
Ora  petunt  pelagusque  dolent  contingere  classi. 
Heu  pudor  !  exigua  est  fugiens  victoria  Magnus. 

*  The  line  in  italics  was  inserted  by  Housinan. 

To8      ,!!)Ri!>do    9iii 


BOOK    II 

barred  the  sea  and  threw  down  the  ends  of  the  boom 
into  the  water,  thus  giving  sea-room  to  the  fleet ; 
often  in  the  darkness  of  night,  his  machines,  wound 
up  by  stalwart  arms,  launched  a  shower  of  cleft  fire- 
brands. When  at  last  he  had  fixed  a  day  for  secret 
flight,  he  gave  orders  to  his  men  that  no  shouting 
of  the  crews  should  alarm  the  shore,  that  no  signal 
should  mark  the  watches,  nor  any  trumpet  forewarn 
the  sailors  and  recall  them  to  the  fleet.  Silently 
they  loosed  their  vessels  when  the  last  part  of  the 
Virgin  had  begun  to  rise  in  front  of  the  Scales,  which 
at  their  rising  would  bring  the  sun  with  them.  No 
shout  was  raised  when  the  anchor-flukes  were 
wrenched  from  the  thick  sand  ;  the  captains  of  the 
fleet  were  anxious  and  silent,  while  the  yards  of  the 
mast  were  bent  and  the  tall  mast  itself  Avas  hoisted ; 
the  sailors,  dangling  in  the  air,  pulled  down  the 
furled  sails  without  shaking  the  stout  cordage,  that 
the  wind  might  not  whistle  through  it.  The  leader 
even  prays  to  Fortune,  that  she  will  suflfer  him  at 
least  to  abandon  the  Italy  which  she  forbids  him  to 
retain.  Fortune  scarcely  grants  his  request ;  for  the 
sea,  smitten  by  the  prows,  gave  forth  a  confused 
roaring,  the  waves  rose,  and  the  billows,  churned  up 
by  the  mingled  wakes  of  so  many  hulls,  boiled  and 
raged  as  they  struck  the  shore. 

Therefore  the  enemy,  admitted  within  the  walls 
and  through  the  gates — for  the  loyalty  of  the  citizens 
had  changed  sides  together  with  fortune  and  thrown 
all  the  gates  open — rushed  in  eager  haste  along  the 
branching  piers  of  the  winding  harbour  towards  its 
mouth,  angry  that  the  sea  should  be  accessible  to  the 
ships.  Shame  on  them  that  the  flight  of  Magnus 
is  not  victory  enough !     Narrow  was  the    chaimel 

109 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Angustus  puppes  mittebat  in  aequora  limes 

Artior  Euboica,  quae  Chalcida  verberat,  unda.  710  ^ 

Hie  haesere  rates  geminae,  classique  paratae 

Excepere  manus,  tractoque  in  litora  bello 

Hie  primum  rubuit  civili  sanguine  Nereus. 

Cetera  classis  abit  summis  spoliata  carinis : 

Ut,  Pagasaea  ratis  peteret  cum  Phasidos  undas,  111 

Cyaneas  tellus  emisit  in  aequora  cautes ; 

Rapta  puppe  minor  subducta  est  montibus  Argo, 

Vanaque  percussit  pontum  Symplegas  inanem 

Et  statura  redit.     lam  Phoebum  urguere  monebat 

Non  idem  Eoi  color  aetheris,  albaque  nondum  72( 

Lux  rubet  et  flammas  propioribus  eripit  astris, 

Et  iam  Plias  hebet,  flexi  iam  plaustra  Bootae 

In  faciem  puri  redeunt  languentia  caeli, 

Maioresque  latent  stellae,  calidumque  refugit 

Lucifer  ipse  diem.     Pelagus  iam^  Magne,  tenebas,     72i 

Non  ea  fata  ferens,  quae,  cum  super  aequora  toto 

Praedonem  sequerere  mari :  lassata  triumphis 

Descivit  Fortuna  tuis.     Cum  coniuge  pulsus 

Et  natis  totosque  trahens  in  bella  penates 

Vadis  adhuc  ingens  populis  comitantibus  exul.  73( 

Quaeritur  indignae  sedes  longinqua  ruinae. 

Non  quia  te  superi  patrio  privare  sepulchre 

Maluerint,  Phariae  busto  damnantur  harenae  : 

Parcitur  Hesperiae  :  procul  hoc  et  in  orbe  remote 

Abscondat  Fortuna  nefas,  Romanaque  tellus  131 

Inmaculata  sui  servetur  sanguine  Magni. 

1  Another  name  for  the  Cyanean  Rocks. 
Iio 


BOOK   II 

that  let  the  ships  out  to  sea,  narrower  than  the  water 
of  Euboea  that  beats  on  Chalcis.  Here  two  ships 
ran  aground  and  were  taken  by  bands  of  soldiers 
lying  in  wait  for  the  fleet.  Then  the  fighting  was 
transferred  to  the  shore,  and  here  the  sea  was  first 
incarnadined  with  the  blood  of  civil  war.  Robbed 
of  its  rearmost  ships,  the  rest  of  the  fleet  put  forth. 
So,  when  the  Argo  sailed  from  Thessaly  to  the  river 
Phasis,  earth  launched  forth  the  Cyanean  Rocks 
upon  the  deep ;  but  the  ship  was  rescued  from  the 
shock,  though  her  stern  was  carried  away :  and  the 
Clashing  Rocks  ^  struck  the  empty  sea  in  vain, 
recoiled,  and  remained  at  rest  for  ever.  And  now  the 
changing  hue  of  the  Eastern  sky  gave  warning  that 
the  sun  was  near  his  rising ;  and  the  ruddy  light,  not 
white  as  yet,  stole  their  fire  from  the  nearer  stars ; 
now  the  Pleiads  were  growing  dim,  the  wain  of 
circling  Bootes  grew  faint  and  merged  into  the 
indistinguishable  aspect  of  the  sky,  the  greater  stars 
went  out,  and  Lucifer  himself  fled  before  the  heat  of 
day.  By  this  time  Magnus  had  gained  the  open 
sea ;  but  the  fortune  which  attended  him  when  he 
hunted  the  pirates  all  over  the  deep  was  no  longer 
his ;  good  luck,  wearied  out  by  his  triumphs,  now 
proved  untrue.  Driven  forth  with  his  wife  and  sons, 
taking  his  whole  household  with  him  to  war,  still 
mighty  in  banishment,  he  goes  forth  with  nations  in 
his  train.  Destiny  is  seeking  a  distant  scene  for  the 
destruction  of  her  innocent  victim.  The  sands  of 
Egypt  are  doomed  to  be  his  grave,  not  because  the 
gods  preferred  to  rob  him  of  a  tomb  in  his  native 
land,  but  in  mercy  to  Italy  :  let  destiny  hide  that 
tragedy  far  away  in  a  distant  region,  and  let  Roman 
soil  be  kept  unstained  by  the  blood  of  Rome's 
darling    Magnus. 

Ill 


I 


BOOK   III 


VOL.    1 


I 


LIBER   TERTIUS 

Propulit  ut  classem  velis  cedentibus  Auster 

Incumbens  mediumque  rates  movere  profundum, 

Omnis  in  lonios  specta})at  navita  fluctus  : 

Solus  ab  Hesperia  non  Hexit  luraina  terra 

Magnus,  dum  patrios  portus,  dum  litora  numquam         5 

Ad  visus  reditura  suos  tectumque  eacumen 

Nubibus  et  dubios  cernit  vanescere  montes. 

Inde  soporifero  cesserunt  languida  somno 

Membra  duels ;  diri  turn  plena  horroris  imago 

Visa  caput  maestum  per  hiantes  lulia  terras  10 

Tollere  et  accenso  furialis  stare  sepulchre. 

"  Sedibus  Elysiis  campoque  expulsa  piorum 

Ad  Stygias  "  inquit  "  tenebras  manesque  nocentes 

Post  bellum  civile  trahor.      Vidi  ipsa  tenentes 

Eumenidas,  quaterent  quas  vestris  lampadas  armis  ;     16 

Praeparat  innumeras  puppes  Acherontis  adusti 

Portitor  ;  in  multas  laxantur  Tartara  poenas  ; 

Vix  operi  cunctae  dextra  properante  sorores 

Sufficiuntj  lassant  rumpentes  stamina  Parcas. 

Coniuge  me  laetos  duxisti^  Magne,  triumphos  :  20 

Fortuna  est  mutata  toris,  semperque  potentes 

Detrahere  in  cladem  fato  damnata  maritos 

^  The  river-banks  are  scorched. 
114 


BOOK    111 

When  the  wind  bore  down  on  the  yielding  sails 
and  drove  the  fleet  forward  till  the  ships  ploughed 
the  open  sea,  all  the  sailors  looked  ahead  over  the 
Ionian  waves.  Magnus  alone  never  took  his  eyes 
off  the  land  of  Italy  until  the  harbours  of  his 
country,  with  the  shore  he  was  never  to  see  again 
and  the  cloud-veiled  hill-tops  and  mountains,  grew 
dim  before  his  eyes  and  disappeared.  His  wearied 
frame  then  yielded  to  drowsy  sleep,  and  straight  he 
saw  a  dream  :  Julia,  a  spectre  full  of  dread  and 
menace,  raised  her  sorrowful  head  above  the  yawn- 
ing earth  and  stood  in  the  guise  of  a  Fury  amid  the 
flames  of  her  funeral  pyre.  And  thus  she  spoke  : 
"  Now  that  civil  war  lias  begun,  driven  forth  from 
the  Elysian  Fields  and  abode  of  the  blest,  I  am 
dragged  to  Stygian  darkness  and  the  place  of  guilty 
spirits.  There  I  saw  with  these  eyes  the  Furies, 
and  in  their  hands  were  torches,  to  brandish  for 
kindling  the  strife  between  you  ;  the  ferryman  of 
scorched  Acheron  ^  is  getting  ready  countless  boats ; 
Tartarus  is  making  wide  its  borders  for  the  punish- 
ment of  many  sinners ;  all  three  Parcae,  though 
their  hands  are  busy,  are  scarce  equal  to  their  task, 
and  the  Sisters  are  weary  of  breaking  the  threads. 
NV'hile  I  was  your  wife,  Magnus,  you  celebrated 
joyful  triumphs.  But  your  fortune  changed  with 
your  bride  :  my  rival,  Cornelia,  condemned  by  Fate 
ever  to  drag  down    her   husbands   from    power  to 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUC ANUS 

[nnupsit  tepido  paelex  Cornelia  busto.  , 

Haereat  ilia  tuis  per  bella,  per  aequora,  signis,  ' 

Dum  non  secures  liceat  mihi  rumpere  somnos  26 

Kt  nullum  vestro  vacuum  sit  tempus  amori, 

Sed  teneat  Caesarque  dies  et  lulia  noctes. 

Me  non  Lethaeae,  coniunx,  oblivia  ripae 

Inmemorem  fecere  tui,  regesque  silentum 

Permisere  sequi.      V^eniam  te  bella  gerente  30 

In  medias  acies.     Numquam  tibi,  Magne,  per  umbras 

Perque  meos  manes  genero  non  esse  licebit ; 

Abscidis  frustra  ferro  tua  pignora  :  bellum 

Te  faciei  civile  meum."     Sic  fata  refugit 

Umbra  per  amplexus  trepidi  dilapsa  mariti.  35 

Ille,  dei  quamvis  cladem  manesque  minentur, 
Maior  in  arma  ruit  certa  cum  mente  malorum 
Et  "•  quid  "  ait  "  vani  terremur  imagine  visus  ? 
Aut  nihil  est  sensus  animis  a  morte  relictum 
Aut  mors  ipsa  nihil."     Titan  iam  pronus  in  undas        40 
Ibat  et  igniferi  tantum  demerserat  orbis, 
Quantum  desse  solet  lunae,  seu  plena  futura  est, 
Seu  iam  plena  fuit  :  tunc  obtulit  hospita  tellus 
Puppibus  accessus  faciles  ;  lege  re  rudentes 
Et  posito  remis  petierunt  litora  malo.  46 

Caesar,  ut  emissas  venti  rapuere  carinas, 
Absconditque  fretum  classes,  et  litore  solus 
Dux  stetit  Hesperio,  non  ilium  gloria  pulsi 
Laetificat  Magni :  queritur,  quod    tuta  per  aequor 
Terga  ferant  hostes.      Neque  enim  iam  sufficit  ulla       60 


^  Cornelia  had  been  the  wife  of  P.  Crassus,  who  fell  ^vith  his 
father  at  Carrhae. 

'^  I  e.  you  will  die. 

^  If  sensation  is  lost,  the  vision  is  a  mere  delusion  ;  and,  if 
sensation  remains,  death  is  not  dreadful. 

ii6 


BOOK   III 

destruction,^  supplanted  me  ere  my  pyre  was  cold. 
She  is  welcome  to  cling  to  your  standards  on  land 
and  sea,  if  only  I  have  power  to  trouble  and  disturb 
your  slumbers,  and  if  no  time  is  left  free  for  love 
between  you,  while  Caesar  takes  up  your  days  and 
Julia  your  nights.  Not  even  the  forgetful  shore 
of  Lethe  has  banished  my  husband  from  my  memory, 
and  I  am  permitted  by  the  Rulers  of  the  dead  to 
haunt  you.  When  you  fight  battles,  I  shall  appear 
in  the  centre  of  the  fray  :  never  shall  my  shade,  my 
ghost,  suffer  you  to  forget  that  you  were  husband 
to  Caesar's  daughter.  In  vain  you  sever  with  the 
sword  the  tie  of  kinship  that  binds  you.  The  civil 
war  shall  make  you  mine."  ^  Thus  speaking,  the 
ghost  fled  away,  dissolving  in  the  arms  of  her  eager 
husband. 

Though  threatened  with  disaster  by  the  gods  and 
by  the  dead,  Pompey  rushed  more  eagerly  to  arms 
with  a  mind  made  up  for  calamity.  "  Why,"  said 
he,  "am  I  terrified  by  the  sight  of  a  meaningless 
spectre  ?  Either  no  feeling  remains  to  the  soul 
after  death,  or  death  itself  matters  not  at  all."  ^ 
The  sun  was  now  sinking  towards  the  sea,  and  had 
dipped  as  much  of  his  flaming  disk  as  the  moon  is 
wont  to  lose  just  before  she  is  at  the  full  or  just 
after;  and  now  a  friendly  land  offered  the  ships  an 
easy  approach  ;  the  men  hauled  in  the  stays,  laid 
the  masts  along,  and  rowed  ashore. 

When  the  wind  snatched  the  vessels  away  from 
Caesar's  grasp  and  the  sea  concealed  the  fleet,  he 
stood  on  the  Italian  shore,  a  leader  without  a  rival ; 
yet  he  felt  no  joy  in  the  glory  of  driving  Magnus 
out,  but  only  vexation  that  the  enemy  had  fled 
safely  over  the  deep.     No  success  could  any  longer 

"7 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Praecipiti  fortuna  viro,  nee  vincere  tanti, 
Ut  bellum  difFerret,  erat.     Turn  pectore  euras 
Expulit  armorum  pacique  intentus  agebat, 
Quoque  modo  vanos  populi  eoneiret  amores, 
Gnarus  et  irarum  causas  et  summa  favoris 
Annona  momenta  trahi.     Namque  adserit  urbes 
Sola  famesj  emiturque  metus,  cum  segne  potentes 
Volgus  alunt :  nescit  plebes  ieiuna  timere. 
Curio  Sicanias  transcendere  iussus  in  urbes. 
Qua  mare  tellurem  subitis  aut  obruit  undis 
Aut  scidit,  et  medias  fecit  sibi  litora  terras ; 
Vis  illic  ingens  pelagi,  semperque  laborant 
Aequora,  ne  rupti  repetant  confinia  montes. 
Bellaque  Sardoas  etiam  sparguntur  in  oras. 
Utraque  frugiferis  est  insula  nobilis  arvis ; 
Nee  prius  Hesperiam  longinquis  messibus  ullae 
Nee  Romana  magis  conplerunt  horrea  terrae. 
Ubere  vix  glaebae  superat,  cessantibus  Austris, 
Cum  medium  nubes  Borea  cogente  sub  axem 
Effusis  magnum  Libye  tulit  imbribus  annum. 

Haec  ubi  sunt  provisa  duci,  tunc  agmina  victor 
Non  armata  trahens  sed  pacis  habentia  voltum, 
Tecta  petit  patriae.     Pro,  si  remeasset  in  urbem, 
Gallorum  tantum  populis  Arctoque  subacta, 
Quam  seriem  rerum  longa  praemittere  pompa, 
Quas  potuit  belli  facies !  ut  vincula  Rheno 
Oceanoque  daret,  celsos  ut  Gallia  currus 
Nobilis  et  flavis  sequeretur  mixta  Britannis. 

*  His  bridge  over  the  Rhine  is  meant. 
ii8 


BOOK    III 

satisfy  his  impetuous  haste  ;  even  victory  in  the 
war  was  not  worth  the  price  of  delay.  At  once  he 
banished  thoughts  of  battle  from  his  mind,  and  passed 
his  time  over  problems  of  peace  and  the  means  of 
winning  the  fickle  favour  of  the  populace  ;  for  he 
knew  that  the  causes  of  hatred  and  mainsprings 
of  popularity  are  determined  by  the  price  of  food. 
Hunger  alone  makes  cities  free ;  and  when  men  in 
power  feed  the  idle  mob,  they  buy  subservience ;  a 
starving  people  is  incapable  of  fear.  He  bade  Curio 
cross  over  to  the  cities  of  Sicily,  by  the  way  where 
the  sea  either  covered  the  land  with  sudden  inunda- 
tion or  severed  it  and  turned  to  shore  what  had  once 
been  inland  ;  mighty  there  is  the  working  of  the 
sea,  and  its  waters  ever  strive  to  prevent  the  severed 
mountains  from  renewing  their  contact.  Other 
troops  were  detached  for  the  borders  of  Sardinia. 
Both  islands  are  famous  for  their  harvest-fields  :  no 
foreign  lands  supplied  Italy  and  the  granaries  of 
Rome  earlier  than  these  or  more  abundantly.  In 
fertility  of  soil  Africa  hardly  excels  them,  even 
when  the  South  winds  lag  and  the  North  wind 
drives  the  clouds  to  the  torrid  zone,  and  the  rains 
pour  down  to  produce  a  mighty  harvest. 

When  he  had  taken  these  precautions,  the 
victorious  general  led  his  troops,  unarmed  and 
wearing  the  aspect  of  peace,  to  the  city  of  his  birth. 
Ah !  if  he  had  conquered  only  the  North  and  the 
tribes  of  Gaul  before  returning  to  Rome,  what  a 
line  of  exploits,  what  scenes  of  war,  he  might  have 
sent  before  him  in  long  procession  through  the 
city  ! — the  fetters  he  had  laid  upon  the  Rhine  ^  and 
the  Ocean,  his  lofty  chariot  followed  by  noble  Gauls 
together  with    fair-haired    Britons  !     How  grand  a 

119 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Perdidit  o  qualem  vincendo  plura  triumphum  I 

Non  ilium  laetis  vadentem  coetibus  urbes  80 

Sed  tacitae  videre  metu,  nee  constitit  usquam 

Obvia  turba  duel.     Gaudet  tamen  esse  timori 

Tam  magno  populis  et  se  non  mallet  amari. 

lamque  et  praecipites  superaverat  Anxuris  arces, 
Et  qua  Pomptinas  via  dividit  uda  paludes,  86 

Qua  sublime  nemus^  Scythicae  qua  regna  Dianae, 
Quaque  iter  est  Latiis  ad  sumraam  fascibus  Albam  ; 
Excelsa  de  rupe  procul  iam  conspicit  urbem 
Arctoi  toto  non  visam  tempore  belli 
Miratusque  suae  sic  fatur  moenia  Romae :  90 

"  Tene,  deum  sedes,  non  ullo  Marte  coacti 
Deseruere  viri  ?  pro  qua  pugnabitur  urbe? 
Di  melius,  quod  non  Latias  Eous  in  oras 
Nunc  furor  incubuit  nee  iuncto  Sarmata  velox 
Pannonio  Dacisque  Getes  admixtus  :  habenti  95 

Tam  pavidum  tibi,  Roma,  diicem  fortuna  pepercit, 
Quod  bellum  civile  fuit."     Sic  fatur  et  urbem 
Attonitam  terrore  subit.     Namque  ignibus  atris 
Creditur,  ut  captae,  rapturus  moenia  Romae 
Sparsurasque  deos.     Fuit  haec  mensura  timoris  :        100 
Velle  putant  quodcumque  potest.     Non  omina  festa, 
Non  fictas  laeto  voces  simulare  tumultu, 
Vix  odisse  vacat.      Phoebea  Palatia  conplet 
Turba  patrum  nullo  cogendi  iure  senatus 

*  At  the  Latin  festival  ( feriae  Latinae). 
I20 


BOOK    III 

triumph  he  lost  by  adding  to  his  conquests !  No 
joyful  throngs  from  the  cities  met  him  on  his 
march  ;  but  men  looked  on  with  silent  fear ;  no 
crowd  anywhere  gathered  to  meet  him.  But  he  was 
glad  to  be  so  dreaded  by  his  countrymen  and  would 
not  have  preferred  their  love. 

Now  he  had  passed  the  heights  of  Anxur  on  its 
crag,  and  the  spot  where  a  miry  way  cleaves  the 
Pomptine  marshes ;  he  had  passed  the  hilly  grove 
and  temple  where  Scythian  Diana  reigns,  and  the 
place  where  the  Roman  consuls  ascend  Alba's 
height.'  At  last  from  a  high  cliff  he  caught  a 
distant  view  of  Rome.  Never  had  he  seen  it 
through  all  the  time  of  his  wars  in  the  North,  and 
now  he  gazed  in  wonder  and  thus  addressed  the  walls 
of  Rome,  his  mother  city  :  "  Were  you,  the  abode  of 
gods,  abandoned  by  men  whom  no  stress  of  war  com- 
pelled ?  What  city  then  will  find  arms  to  strike  a 
blow  for  her.''  Heaven  be  thanked  that  the  furious 
East — swift  Sarmatians  allied  with  Pannonians,  and 
Getae  combined  with  Dacians — did  not  choose  this 
time  to  fall  on  the  borders  of  Italy !  It  was  a 
mercy  of  Fortune  that  Rome,  with  so  faint-hearted 
a  leader,  had  to  fight  against  Romans  only." — With 
these  words  he  entered  a  city  paralysed  with  fear. 
For  men  believed  that,  as  if  he  had  taken  Rome, 
he  would  destroy  the  walls  with  smoky  fires  and 
hurl  her  gods  hither  and  thither.  The  measure 
of  their  fears  was  this :  they  deemed  that  his  will 
was  equal  to  his  power.  Their  minds  are  not  free 
to  feign  words  of  good  omen  or  to  make  pretence 
of  rejoicing  with  mirthful  shouts  ;  and  scarcely  free 
p  to  utter  curses.  Authority  to  summon  the  Senate 
was  wanting ;  but  a  mob  of  senators,  brought  out 

121 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

E  latebris  educta  suis  ;  non  consule  sacrae  105 

Fulserunt  sedes,  non,  proxima  lege  potestas, 

Praetor  adest,  vacuaeque  loco  cessere  curules. 

Omnia  Caesar  erat ;  privatae  curia  vocis 

Testis  adest.     Sedere  patres  censere  parati, 

Si  regnum,  si  templa  sibi  iugulumque  senatus  110 

Exiliumque  petat.     Melius,  quod  plura  iubere 

Erubuit,  quam  Roma  pati.     Taraen  exit  in  iram, 

Viribus  an  possint  obsistere  iura,  per  unum 

Libertas  experta  virum  ;  pugnaxque  Metellus, 

Ut  videt  ingenti  Saturnia  templa  revelli  116 

Mole,  rapit  gressus  et  Caesans  agmina  rumpens 

Ante  fores  nondum  reseratae  constitit  aedis, 

—  Usque  adeo  solus  ferrum  mortem  que  timere 

Auri  nescit  amor.     Pereunt  discrimine  nullo 

Amissae  leges,  sed,  pars  vilissima  rerum,  120 

Certamen  movistis,  opes — prohibensque  rapina 

Victorem  clara  testatur  voce  tribunus : 

"  Non  nisi  per  nostrum  vobis  percussa  patebunt 

Templa  latus,  nuUasque  feres  nisi  sanguine  sacro 

Sparsas,  raptor,  opes.     Certe  violata  potestas  125 

Invenit  ista  deos  ;  Crassumque  in  bella  secutae 

Saeva  tribuniciae  voverunt  proelia  dirae. 

Detege  iam  ferrum ;  neque  enim  tibi  turba  verenda  est 

Spectatrix  scelerum  :  deserta  stamus  in  urbe. 

*  This  temple  was  used  as  the  treasury. 

*  The  person  of  the  tribunes  was  sacred  ;   yet  some  of  the 
noblest  among  them  were  murdered  by  political  opponents. 

*  Crassus  was  formally  cursed  by  a  tribune  in  November, 
55  B.C.,  when  he  left  Rome  for  his  Parthian  campaign. 

122 


BOOK    III 

from  their  hiding-places,  filled  the  temple  of 
Apollo  on  the  Palatine  ;  the  splendour  of  the  consuls 
was  absent  from  their  sacred  seats ;  the  praetors, 
by  law  next  in  office^  were  not  in  attendance,  and 
the  empty  chairs  of  office  were  removed  from  their 
places.  Caesar  was  all  in  all,  and  the  Senate  met 
to  register  the  utterance  of  a  private  man.  Should 
he  demand  kingly  power  and  divine  honours  for 
himself,  or  execution  and  exile  for  the  Senate, 
the  assembled  Fathers  were  ready  to  give  their 
sanction.  Fortunately,  there  were  more  things  that 
he  was  ashamed  to  decree  than  Romans  were 
ashamed  to  allow.  Nevertheless,  Freedom  did  break 
out  in  wrath  and  tried,  in  the  person  of  one 
man,  whether  right  could  resist  might.  Stubborn 
Metellus,  when  he  saw  main  force  used  to  burst 
open  the  temple  of  Saturn,^  hurried  thither,  broke 
through  the  ranks  of  Caesar's  soldiers,  and  took  his 
stand  at  the  gates  before  the  locks  were  broken. 
(So  true  it  is  that  love  of  money  alone  is  incapable 
of  dreading  death  by  the  sword.  When  the  con- 
stitution was  lost  and  destroyed,  it  made  no 
difference ;  but  money,  the  meanest  thing  of  all, 
stirred  up  strife.)  Loudly  the  tribune  protested, 
striving  to  restrain  the  conqueror  from  robbery : 
**  Never,  except  over  my  body,  shall  the  temple  be 
opened  to  your  assault ;  no  wealth,  unless  sprinkled 
with  sacred  blood, 2  shall  you  win  by  robbery.  It  is 
certain  that  violence  done  to  this  office  finds  gods 
to  avenge  it ;  for  the  curses  of  the  tribune,  which 
imprecated  defeat  upon  Crassus,  followed  Crassus 
to  the  battlefield. 3  Draw  your  sword  at  once ; 
you  need  not  fear  a  crowd  to  witness  the  crime — 
the  city  in  which  we  stand  has  been  abandoned  by 

123 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  feret  e  nostro  sceleratus  praeraia  miles :  130 

Sunt,  quos  prosternas,  populi,  quae  moenia  dones. 
Pacis  ad  exutae  ^  spolium  non  cogit  egestas  : 
Bellum,  Caesar,  habes."      His  magnam  victor  in  iram 
Vocibus  accensus  :  ''  Vanam  spem  mortis  honestae 
Concipis  :  baud  "  inquit  ^^  iugulo  se  polluet  isto  135 

Nostra,  Metelle,  manus ;  dignum  te  Caesaris  ira 
Nullus  honor  faciet.     Te  vindice  tuta  relicta  est 
Libertas  ?  non  usque  adeo  permiscuit  imis 
Longus  summa  dies,  ut  non,  si  voce  Metelli 
Servantur  leges,  malint  a  Caesare  tolli."  140 

Dixerat,  et  nondum  foribus  cedente  tribune 
Acrior  ira  subit :  saevos  circumspicit  enses 
Oblitus  simulare  togam;  cum^  Cotta  Metellum 
Conpulit  audaci  nimium  desistere  coepto. 
"Libertas"  inquit  "  populi,  quern  regna  coercent,      145 
Libertate  perit ;  cuius  servaveris  umbram. 
Si,  quidquid  iubeare,  velis.     Tot  rebus  iniquis 
Paruimus  victi ;  venia  est  haec  sola  pudoris 
Degenerisque  metus,  nullam  potuisse  negari. 
Ocius  avertat  diri  mala  semina  belli.  150l 

Damna  movent  populos,  si  quos  sua  iura  tuentur  : 
Non  sibi,  sed  domino  gravis  est,  quae  servit,  egestas/ 
Protinus  abducto  patuerunt  templa  Metello. 
Tunc  rupes  Tarpeia  sonat  magnoque  reclusas 
Testatur  stridore  fores  ;  turn  conditus  imo  155] 


^  exutae  Heinsius:  exustae  and  exhaustae  MSS, 
2  cum  Benthy :  turn  MSS. 


124 


BOOK    III 

its  people.  Your  soldiers  shall  not  be  paid  for  their 
wickedness  out  of  our  wealth  ;  there  are  other  nations 
for  you  to  overthrow,  other  cities  for  you  to  hand 
over  to  them.  No  poverty  forces  you  to  the  spolia- 
tion of  the  peace  you  have  cast  aside  :  you  have 
war  to  enrich  you."  His  words  fired  the  conqueror 
with  high  indignation.  "  In  vain,  Metellus,"  he 
cried,  "you  hope  for  a  glorious  death:  never  shall 
my  hand  be  stained  by  your  blood.  No  office 
shall  make  you  worthy  of  my  wrath.  Are  you 
the  champion  in  whose  charge  freedom  has  been 
left  for  safety  ?  The  course  of  time  has  not  wrought 
such  confusion  that  the  laws  would  not  rather  be 
trampled  on  by  Caesar  than  saved  by  Metellus." 

Thus  Caesar  spoke  ;  and  when  the  tribune  still 
refused  to  leave  the  doors,  his  anger  grew  fiercer, 
and  he  looked  round  for  his  ruthless  swords,  for- 
getting to  act  the  part  of  peace.  But  Metellus 
was  forced  by  Cotta  to  renounce  his  too  bold  design. 
"  When  a  people  is  held  down  by  tyranny,"  said 
Cotta,  "  freedom  is  destroyed  by  freedom  of  speech  ; 
but  you  keep  the  semblance  of  freedom  if  you 
acquiesce  in  each  behest  of  the  tyrant.  Because  we 
^  were  conquered,  we  submitted  to  repeated  acts  of 
oppression  ;  for  our  disgrace  and  ignoble  fear  there 
is  but  one  excuse — that  refusal  was  in  no  case 
possible.  Let  Caesar  with  all  speed  carry  off  the 
baneful  germs  of  cursed  warfare.  Loss  of  money 
touches  nations  that  are  protected  by  their  own 
laws ;  but  the  poverty  of  slaves  is  felt  by  their 
master,  not  by  themselves."  Metellus  was  drawn 
aside  and  the  temple  at  once  thrown  open.  Then 
the  Tarpeian  rock  re-echoed,  and  loud  grating  bore 
witness   to   the   opening  of  the   doors ;    then    was 

125 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Rriiitur  templo  miiltis  non  tactus  ab  annis 
Romani  census  populi,  quem  Punica  bella. 
Quern  dederat  Perses,  quem  victi  praeda  Philippi, 
Quod  tibi,  Roma,  fuga  Gallus  ^  trepidante  reliquit^, 
Quo  te  Fabricius  regi  non  vendidit  auro,  160 

Quidquid  parcorum  mores  servastis  avorum. 
Quod  dites  Asiae  populi  misere  tributum 
Victorique  dedit  Minoia  Creta  Metello, 
Quod  Cato  longinqua  vexit  super  aequora  Cypro. 
Tunc  Orientis  opes  captorumque  ultima  reguin  166 

Quae  Pompeianis  praelata  est  gaza  triumphis, 
Egeritur  ;  tristi  spoliantur  templa  rapina, 
Pauperiorque  fuit  tunc  primum  Caesare  Roma. 

Interea  totum  Magni  fortuna  per  orbem 
Secum  casuras  in  proelia  moverat  urbes.  170 

Proxima  vicino  vires  dat  Graecia  bello. 
Phocaicas  Amphissa  manus  scopulosaque  Cirrha 
Parnasosque  iugo  misit  desertus  utroque. 
Boeoti  coiere  duces,  quos  inpiger  ambit 
Fatidica  Cephisos  aqua  Cadmeaque  Dirce,  175 

Pisaeaeque  manus  populisque  per  aequora  mittens 
Sicaniis  Alpheos  aquas.     Turn  Maenala  liquit 
Areas  et  Herculeam  miles  Trachinius  Octen. 
Thesproti  Dryopesque  ruunt,  quercusque  silentes 
Chaonio  veteres  liquerunt  vertice  Selloe.  180 

Exhausit  totas  quamvis  dilectus  Athenas, 
Exiguae  Phoebea  tenent  navalia  puppes, 

*  Gallus  Housman  :  Pyrrhus  MS8, 

*  BrcnnuR.  ^  Pyrrhus. 

3  It  often  happened  later,  notably  under  Augustus,  that  the 
State  was  poorer  than  its  ruler. 

*  The  oracle  of  Dodona  had  been  destroyed. 

^  ApoUonia,  a  harbour  in  Epirus,  was  occupied  by  some  of 
Pompey's  ships. 
T26 


BOOK   III 

brought  forth  the  wealth  of  the  Roman  people, 
stored  in  the  temple  vaults  and  untouched  for  many 
a  year — treasure  from  the  Punic  wars  and  Parses, 
and  the  spoil  of  conquered  Philip  ;  the  gold  that 
the  Gaul^  in  his  hasty  flight  forfeited  to  Rome, 
and  the  gold  that  could  not  bribe  Fabricius  to 
sell  Rome  to  the  king  2  ;  all  that  the  thrift  of  our 
ancestors  saved  up ;  all  the  tribute  paid  by  the 
wealthy  nations  of  Asia,  and  all  that  was  handed  over 
to  conquering  Metellus  by  Minoan  Crete  ;  and  the 
store  that  Cato  brought  across  the  sea  from  distant 
Cyprus.  Lastly,  the  riches  of  the  East  were  brought 
to  light,  the  far-fetched  treasure  of  captive  kings 
that  was  borne  along  in  Pompey's  triumph.  Dismal 
was  the  deed  of  plunder  that  robbed  the  temple ; 
and  then  for  the  first  time  Rome  was  poorer  than  a 
Caesar.  8 

Meanwhile  over  all  the  earth  the  reputation  of 
Magnus  had  brought  forth  to  battle  nations  doomed 
to  share  his  fall.  Greece,  the  nearest  country,  sent 
soldiers  for  her  neighbour's  war.  From  Phocis,  Am- 
phissa  sent  her  men,  and  rocky  Cirrha ;  and  both 
peaks  of  Parnassus  were  abandoned.  The  leaders 
of  Boeotia  '  assembled,  men  whom  swift  Cephisus 
surrounds  with  its  oracular  stream  and  Cadmean 
Dirce ;  there  were  men  from  Pisa  and  the  Alpheus 
which  transmits  its  waters  under  the  sea  to  the 
people  of  Sicily.  Maenalus  also  was  left  behind  by 
the  Arcadians,  and  Oeta  of  Hercules  by  the  soldiers 
of  Trachis.  Thesprotians  and  Dryopes  rush  to  war, 
and  the  ancient  Selloi  left  their  silent  oaks  *  on  the 
hill  of  Chaonia.  Though  Athens  was  drained  of  all 
her  men  by  the  levy,  few  were  her  vessels  that 
reached  the  harbour  of  Apollo,^  and  but  three  keels 

127 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Tresque  petunt  veram  credi  SaLamina  carinae. 

lam  dilecta  lovi  centenis  venit  in  arma 

Creta  vetus  populis  Giiososque  agitare  pharetras  185 

Docta  nee  Eois  peior  Gortyna  sagittis. 

Tunc  qui  Dardaniam  tenet  Oricon  et  vagus  altis 

Dispersus  silvis  Athaman  et  nomine  prisco 

Encheliae  versi  testantes  funera  Cadmi, 

Colchis  et  Hadriaca  spumans  Absyrtos  in  unda ;  190 

Penei  qui  rura  colunt,  quorumque  labore 

Thessalus  Haemoniam  vomer  proscindit  lolcon. 

(Inde  lacessitum  primo  mare,  cum  rudis  Argo 

Miscuit  ignotas  temerato  litore  gentes 

Primaque  cum  ventis  pelagique  furentibus  undis         195 

Conposuit  mortale  genus,  fatisque  per  illam 

Accessit  mors  una  ratem.)     Tum  linquitur  Haemus 

Thracius  et  populum  Pholoe  mentita  biformem. 

Deseritur  Strymon  tepido  committere  Nile 

Bistonias  consuetus  aves  et  barbara  Cone,  200 

Sarmaticas  ubi  perdit  aquas  sparsamque  ])rofundo 

Multifidi  Peucen  unum  caput  adluit  Histri, 

Mysiaque  et  gelido  tellus  perfusa  Caico 

Idalis  et  nimium  glaebis  exilis  Arisbe  ; 

Quique  colunt  Pitanen  et,  quae  tua  munera,  Pallas,    205 

Lugent  damnatae  Plioebo  victore  Celaenae, 

Qua  celer  et  rectis  descendens  Marsya  ripis 

Errantem  Maeandron  adit  mixtusque  refertur, 

Passaque  ab  auriferis  tellus  exire  metallis 


^  He  was  changed  into  a  snake  :  eyx^Avs  is  properly  "  an  eel." 

'-^  The  Centaurs,  who  united  the  head  and  arms  of  a  man  to 
the  body  of  a  horse. 

^  The  cranes  from  Thrace. 

*  Pallas  invented  the  flute  and  then  threw  it  away.  The 
Satyr  Marsyas  of  Celaenae  picked  it  up  and  challenged  Apollo 
to  a  match  ;  he  was  defeated  and  liayed  by  his  rival. 

128 


BOOK   III 

claim  credence  for  the  tale  of  Salamis.  Next  to 
join  the  fray  was  Crete,  the  ancient  island  of  a 
hundred  peoples,  a  land  dear  to  Zeus,  with  Gnosos 
skilled  to  ply  the  bow,  and  Gortyna  rivalling  the 
Parthian  archers.  These  were  followed  by  the  men 
who  dwell  in  Trojan  Oricos,  the  Athamanes  who 
rove  scattered  in  mountain  forests,  and  the  Encheliae, 
whose  ancient  name  testifies  to  the  death  and  trans- 
formation of  Cadmus.^  Colchian  Absyrtos  that  foams 
in  the  Adriatic  sea  came  also,  and  the  men  who  till 
the  fields  about  Peneus,  and  those  by  whose  toil 
Thessalian  ploughs  turn  up  the  soil  of  Haemonian 
lolcos.  (From  lolcos  the  sea  was  first  challenged, 
when  the  untried  Argo  scorned  the  shore  and 
brought  together  nations  that  before  were  strangers  ; 
she  first  matched  mankind  against  the  raging  winds 
and  waves  of  ocean,  and  by  her  means  a  new  form 
of  death  was  added  to  the  old.)  Next,  Mount 
Haemus  in  Thrace  was  abandoned,  and  Pholoe  with 
its  false  legend  of  a  twy-formed  people. ^  Strymon 
was  left  deserted — Strymon  that  each  year  entrusts 
to  the  warm  Nile  the  birds  of  Bistonia ;  ^  and  rude 
Cone,  where  one  mouth  of  the  branching  Danube 
loses  its  Sarmatian  waters  and  washes  Peuce  sprinkled 
by  the  sea.  Mysia  was  deserted,  and  the  land  of 
Idalus,  saturated  with  the  cold  waters  of  Caicus, 
and  Arisbe,  whose  soil  is  all  too  shallow.  The 
people  of  Pitane  assembled,  and  of  Celaenae  that 
mourns  the  invention  of  Pallas^Celaenae  con- 
demned when  Apollo  won  the  match;*  in  that  land 
the  Marsya,  running  swiftly  down  in  straight  channel, 
joins  the  winding  Maeander  and  turns  back  after 
their  union  ;  and  there  earth  has  suffered  Pactolus 
to  issue  forth  from  mines  rich  in  gold,  and  Hermus, 

129 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Pactolon,  qua  culta  secat  non  vilior  Hermus.  210 

Iliacae  quoque  signa  manus  perituraque  castra 
Ominibus  petiere  suis,  nee  fabula  Troiae 
Continuit  Phrygiique  ferens  se  Caesar  luli. 
Accedunt  Syriae  populi :  desertus  Orontes 
Et  felix,  sic  fama,  Ninos,  ventosa  Damascos  216 

Gazaque  et  arbusto  palmarum  dives  Idume 
Et  Tyros  instabilis  pretiosaque  murice  Sidon. 
Has  ad  bella  rates  non  flexo  limite  ponti 
Certior  baud  ullis  duxit  Cynosura  carinis. 
(Phoenices  primi,  famae  si  creditur,  ausi  220 

Mansuram  rudibus  vocem  signare  figuris  : 
Nondum  flumineas  Memphis  contexere  biblos 
Noverat,  et  saxis  tantum  volucresque  feraeque 
Sculptaque  servabant  magicas  animalia  linguas). 
Deseritur  Taurique  nemus  Perseaque  Tarsos  225 

Coryciumque  patens  exesis  rupibus  antrum  ; 
Mallos  et  extremae  resonant  navalibus  Aegae, 
Itque  Cilix  iusta,  iam  non  pirata,  carina. 
Movit  et  Eoos  bellorum  fama  recessus. 
Qua  colitur  Ganges,  toto  qui  solus  in  orbe  230 

Ostia  nascenti  contraria  solvere  Phoebo 
Audet  et  adversum  fluctus  inpellit  in  Eurum, 
Hie  ubi  Pellaeus  post  Tethyos  aequora  ductor 
Constitit  et  magno  vinci  se  fassus  ab  orbe  est ; 
Quaque  ferens  rapidum  diviso  gurgite  fontem  235 

Vastis  Indus  aquis  mixtum  non  sentit  Hydaspen ; 

^  Tyre  was  notorious  for  earthquakes.     Ninos  (Nineveh)  had 
long  been  destroyed. 
*  To  make  papyrus. 
'  In  point  of  fact  Alexander  never  reached  the  Ganges. 

130 


BOOK   III 

rich  as  Pactolus,  cleaves  the  corn-lands.  The  soldiers 
of  Ilium  also,  ever  ill-fated,  joined  the  standards  of 
the  doomed  army,  undeterred  by  the  tale  of  Troy 
or  the  pretended  descent  of  Caesar  from  Trojan 
lulus.  The  nations  of  Syria  came  also,  leaving  be- 
hind the  Orontes,  and  Ninos  of  whose  prosperity 
legend  tells ;  they  left  wind-swept  Damascus,  Gaza, 
Idume  rich  in  palm-plantations,  tottering  Tyre,^  and 
Sidon  precious  for  its  purple.  Their  ships  were 
steered  to  war  by  the  pole-star  and  kept  an  un- 
erring course  over  the  sea :  to  no  ships  is  the  pole- 
star  a  more  trusty  guide  than  to  them.  (These 
Phoenicians  first  made  bold,  if  report  speak  true, 
to  record  speech  in  rude  characters  for  future  ages, 
before  Egypt  had  learned  to  fasten  together  the 
reeds  of  her  river,^  and  when  only  the  figures  of 
birds,  beasts,  and  other  animals,  carved  in  stone, 
preserved  the  utterances  of  her  wise  men.)  Men 
left  the  woods  of  Taurus,  and  Tarsos  where  Perseus 
alighted,  and  the  Corycian  cave  that  yawns  with 
hollowed  rocks.  Mallos  and  distant  Aegae  are  filled 
with  the  noise  of  their  dockyards ;  and  the  Cilicians, 
no  longer  pirates,  put  forth  in  regular  ships  of  war. 
The  news  of  war  roused  also  the  distant  parts  of 
the  East,  where  Ganges  and  its  peoples  are — Ganges, 
the  one  river  on  earth  that  dares  to  unlock  its 
mouths  opposite  the  rising  sun  and  drives  its  flood 
forward  in  the  teeth  of  the  East  wind ;  here  it  was 
that  the  Macedonian  captain  ^  halted,  with  the  outer 
Ocean  in  front  of  him,  and  confessed  that  he  was 
beaten  by  the  vastness  of  the  world.  Roused  was 
the  land  where  the  Indus,  bearing  along  its  swift 
stream  with  two-fold  flood,  is  unchanged  by  the 
addition  of  the  Hydaspes  to  its  waste  of  waters. 

131 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Quiqiie  bibunt  tenera  dulces  ab  harundine  sucos, 

Et  qui  tinguentes  croceo  niedicamine  crinem 

Fluxa  coloratis  astringunt  carbasa  gemmis, 

Quique  suas  struxere  pyras  vivique  calentes  240 

Conscendere  rogos.      Pro,  quanta  est  gloria  genti 

Iniecisse  nianum  fatis  vitaque  repletos 

Quod  superest  donasse  deis  !     Venere  feroces 

Cappadoces,  duri  populus  non  cultor  Amani, 

Armeniusque  tenens  volventem  saxa  Niphaten.  245 

Aethera  tangentes  silvas  liquere  Choatrae. 

Ignotum  vobis,  Arabes,  venistis  in  orbem 

Umbras  mirati  nemorum  non  ire  sinistras. 

Turn  furor  extremos  movit  Romanus  Orestas 

Carmanosque  duces  (quorum  iam  flexus  in  Austrum    250 

Aether  non  totani  mergi  tamen  aspicit  Arcton  ; 

Lucet  et  exigua  velox  ibi  nocte  Bootes), 

Aethiopumque  solum,  quod  non  premeretur  ab  ulla 

Signiferi  regione  poii,  nisi  poplite  lapso 

Ultima  curvati  procederet  ungula  Tauri ;  255 

Quaque  caput  rapido  tollit  cum  Tigride  magnus 

Euphrates,  quos  non  diversis  fontibus  edit 

Persis,  et  incertum,  tellus  si  misceat  amnes, 

Quod  potius  sit  nomen  aquis.     Sed  sparsus  in  agros 

Fertilis  Euphrates  Phariae  vice  fungitur  undae ;  2G0 

At  Tigrim  subito  tellus  absorbet  hiatu 

Occultosque  tegit  cursus  rursusque  renatum 

Fonte  novo  flumen  pelagi  non  abnegat  undis. 

Inter  Caesareas  acies  diversaque  signa 

^  The  sugar-cane  is  meant.  *  I.e.,  to  the  South. 

'  See  Housman,  p.  327  :  the  translation  given  liere  follows  his. 

132 


BOOK    III 

Up  rose  the  men  who  drink  sweet  juices  from  soft 
reeds  ;  ^  and  those  who  colour  their  hair  with  saffron 
dye  and  loop  up  their  robes  of  cotton  with  bright- 
Imed  gems;  and  those  who  build  pyres  for  them- 
selves and  climb,  while  yet  alive,  upon  the  burning 
heap.  How  glorious  for  a  people  to  lay  violent 
hands  on  death,  and,  when  satiated  with  life,  to 
refuse  the  remnant  of  it  from  the  gods  !  The  savage 
Cappadocians  came ;  and  the  men  who  find  the  soil 
of  Mount  Amanus  too  hard  to  till ;  and  the  Ar- 
menians, who  dwell  where  the  Niphates  rolls  along 
boulders  in  its  course.  The  Choatrae  abandoned 
their  forests  that  reach  the  sky;  the  Arabs  entered 
a  world  unknown  to  them,  and  marvelled  that  the 
shadows  of  the  trees  did  not  fall  to  the  left.^  The 
remote  Orestae  too  were  disturbed  by  the  madness 
of  Rome,  and  the  chiefs  of  Carmania — where  the 
sky,  beginning  to  incline  southwards,  sees  part  at 
least  of  the  Bear  sink  below  the  horizon,  and  where 
Bootes,  swift  to  set,  is  visible  only  for  a  short  portion 
of  the  night — and  the  land  of  Aethiopia,  which  would 
not  be  covered  by  any  part  of  the  Zodiac,  did  not 
the  leg  of  hunched-up  Taurus  give  way  and  the  tip 
of  his  hoof  project  ;^  and  the  land  where  the  mighty 
Euphrates  and  rushing  Tigris  uplift  their  heads. 
They  rise  in  Persia  from  springs  not  far  apart ;  and, 
if  earth  suffered  them  to  meet,  who  can  say  which 
of  the  names  the  waters  would  bear?  But  the 
Euphrates,  diffused  over  the  land,  fertilises  it  as  the 
Nile  fertilises  Egypt ;  whereas  the  Tigris  is  suddenly 
swallowed  up  by  a  chasm  in  the  earth,  which  hides 
its  course  from  the  eye,  but  then  gives  birth  to  it 
again  from  a  new  source  and  suffers  the  river  to 
reach   the   sea.      The   warlike    Parthians   remained 

^33 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pugnaces  dubium  Parthi  tenuere  favorem,  265 

Contenti  fecisse  duos.     Tinxere  sagittas 

Errantes  Scythiae  populi,  quos  gurgite  Bactros 

Includit  gelido  vastisque  Hyrcania  silvis. 

Hinc  Lacedaemonii,  moto  gens  aspera  freno, 

Heniochi  saevisque  adfinis  Sarmata  Moschis ;  270 

Colchorum  qua  rura  secat  ditissima  Phasis, 

Qua  Croeso  fatalis  Halys,  qua  vertice  lapsus 

Riphaeo  Tanais  diversi  nomina  mundi 

Inposuit  ripis  Asiaeque  et  terminus  idem 

Europae,  mediae  dirimens  confinia  terrae,  276 

Nunc  hunc,  nunc  ilium,  qua  flectitur,  ampliat  orbem  ; 

Quaque,  fretum  torrens,  Maeotidos  egerit  undas 

Pontus,  et  Herculeis  aufertur  gloria  metis, 

Oceanumque  negant  solas  admittere  Gades. 

Hinc  Essedoniae  gentes  auroque  ligatas  280 

Substringens,  Arimaspe,  comas ;  hinc  fortis  Arius 

Longaque  Sarmatici  solvens  ieiunia  belli 

Massagetes,  quo  fugit,  equo  volucresque  Geloni. 

Non,  cum  Memnoniis  deducens  agmina  regnis 

Cyrus  et  effusis  numerato  milite  talis  286 

Descendit  Perses,  fraternique  ultor  amoris 

Aequora  cum  tantis  percussit  classibus,  unum 

Tot  reges  habuere  ducem,  coiere  nee  umquam 

Tam  variae  cyltu  gentes,  tam  dissona  volgi 

*  By  killing  Crassus,  the  third  member  of  the  triumvirate. 

^  The  Sea  of  Azov  (Palus  Maeotis)  was  supposed  to  have  an 
outlet  to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

3  Darts,  one  thrown  by  each  man,  were  counted. 

*  Agamemnon,  who  tpok  vengeance  for  his  brother  Menelaus. 

»34 


BOOK    III 

neutral  between  the  army  of  Caesar  and  the  host 
opposed  to  him :  it  was  enough  for  them  that  they 
had  reduced  the  rivals  to  two.^  The  nomad  peoples 
of  Scythia,  bounded  by  the  cold  stream  of  Bactros 
and  the  endless  forests  of  Hyrcania,  dipped  their 
arrows  in  poison.  From  one  quarter  came  the 
Heniochi  of  Spartan  blood,  a  dangerous  people  when 
they  shake  their  bridles,  and  the  Sarmatians,  akin  to 
the  savage  Moschi.  Men  came  from  the  regions 
where  the  Phasis  cleaves  the  rich  land  of  the  Col- 
chians,  where  flows  the  Halys  that  brought  doom  to 
Croesus,  and  where  the  Tanais,  falling  down  from 
the  Riphaean  heights,  gives  the  names  of  two  worlds 
to  its  two  banks,  bounding  Asia  and  Europe  as 
well — it  keeps  the  central  part  of  earth  from  union, 
and,  according  to  its  windings,  enlarges  now  one 
continent  and  now  the  other — and  where  the  Euxine 
drains  the  rushing  waters  of  the  Maeotian  Mere 
through  the  strait;  and  thus  men  deny  that  Gades 
alone  lets  in  the  Ocean ,2  and  the  Pillars  of  Hercules 
are  robbed  of  their  boast.  From  another  quarter 
came  the  Essedonian  tribes,  the  Arimaspians  who 
loop  up  their  hair  bound  with  gold,  the  brave  Arians, 
the  Massagetae  who  break  the  long  fast  of  battle 
with  Sarmatians  by  bleeding  the  horse  that  bore 
them  from  the  fight,  and  the  fleet  Geloni.  Neither 
Cyrus,  when  he  led  his  host  from  the  land  of  morn- 
ing and  the  Persians  came  down  with  an  army  that 
was  numbered  by  the  casting  of  darts  ,^  nor  he  that 
avenged  his  brother's  wrong  * — neither  of  these 
smote  the  sea  with  such  mighty  fleets;  never  did 
so  many  kings  obey  a  single  leader,  never  did 
nations  meet  so  different  in  dress,  never  was  there 
such  a  confusion  of  tongues.     Fortune  roused  all 

^35 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ora.     Tot  inmensae  comites  missura  ruinae  290 

Excivit  populos  et  dignas  funere  Magni 
Exequias  fortuna  dedit.     Non  corniger  Hammon 
Mittere  Marmaricas  cessavit  in  arma  catervas, 
Quidquid  ab  occiduis  Libye  patet  arida  Mauris 
Usque  Paraetonias  eoa  ad  litora  Syrtes.  295 

Acciperet  felix  ne  non  semel  omnia  Caesar, 
Vincendum  pariter  Pharsalia  praestitit  orbem. 

Ille  ubi  deseruit  trepidantis  moenia  Romae, 
Agmine  nubiferam  rapto  super  evolat  Alpem, 
Cumque  alii  famae  populi  terrore  paverent,  3u0 

Phocais  in  dubiis  ausa  est  servare  iuventus 
Non  Graia  levitate  fidem  signataque  iura, 
Et  causas,  non  fata,  sequi.      Tamen  ante  furorem 
Indomitum  duramque  viri  deflectere  mentem 
Pacifico  sermone  parant  hostemque  propinquum  305 

Orant  Cecropiae  praelata  fronde  Miner vae  : 

"Semper  in  externis  populo  communia  vestro 
Massiliam  bellis  testatur  fata  tulisse, 
Conprensa  est  Latiis  quaecumque  annalibus  aetas. 
Et  nunc,  ignoto  si  quos  petis  orbe  triumphos,  310 

Accipe  devotas  externa  in  proelia  dextras. 
At,  si  funestas  acies,  si  dira  paratis 
Proelia  discordes,  lacrimas  civilibus  armis 
Secretumque  damns.     Tractentur  volnera  nulla 
Sacra  manu.     Si  caelicolis  furor  arma  dedisset,  315 

Aut  si  terrigenae  temptarent  astra  gigantes, 
Non  tamen  auderet  pietas  humana  vel  armis 
Vel  votis  prodesse  lovi,  sortisque  deorum 


1  Massilia  (Marseilles)   was    founded   by  Greeks,    emigrants 
from  Phocaea  in  Asia  Minor. 
'  Olive-branches. 


136 


BOOK   III 

those  peoples,  to  send  them  as  escort  for  measureless 
disaster,  and  provided  them  as  a  funeral  train  be- 
fitting the  burial  of  Magnus.  Nor  was  horned 
Ammon  slow  to  send  to  battle  African  squadrons 
from  the  whole  extent  of  parched  Libya — from  the 
Moors  in  the  West  to  Egyptian  Syrtes  on  the  eastern 
coast.  That  Caesar,  favoured  by  Fortune,  might  win 
all  at  a  single  cast,  Pharsalia  presented  him  the 
whole  world  to  conquer  at  once. 

When  Caesar  left  the  walls  of  terrified  Rome,  he 
rushed  with  swift  march  over  the  cloud-capped  Alps. 
Though  other  peoples  cowered  at  the  terror  of  his 
name,  the  Phocaean^  warriors,  with  steadfastness 
rare  in  Greeks,  dared  to  be  faithful  in  the  hour  of 
danger  to  their  solemn  compacts,  and  to  follow  the 
right  rather  than  fortune.  But  first  they  tried  by 
peaceable  argument  to  turn  aside  the  reckless  rage 
and  stern  heart  of  Caesar ;  and  when  the  enemy 
drew  near,  they  appealed  to  him  thus,  holding  out 
before  them  the  leaves  ^  of  Athenian  Minerva  : 

*^  Every  age  included  in  ItaHan  history  bears 
witness  that  Massilia  has  shared  the  fortunes  of  the 
Roman  people  in  their  foreign  wars.  And  now  too, 
if  you  seek  triumphs  in  some  unknown  region,  here 
at  your  service  are  our  swords  to  fight  against  the 
foreigner.  But  if  Romans  are  divided,  and  if  you 
purpose  ill-omened  battles  and  accursed  strife,  then 
we  offer  tears  for  civil  war,  and  we  stand  aside.  No 
other  hand  should  meddle  with  the  wounds  of  gods. 
If  frenzy  had  armed  the  immortals,  or  if  the  earth- 
born  Giants  assailed  the  sky,  the  piety  of  man, 
nevertheless,  would  shrink  from  aiding  Jupiter  either 
with  arms  or  with  prayers  ;  and  the  human  race, 
ignorant  of  what  was  happening  in  heaven,  would 

137 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ignarum  mortale  genus  per  fulmina  tantum 

Sciret  adhuc  caelo  solum  regnare  Tonantem.  320 

Adde,  quod  innumerae  concurrunt  undique  gentes, 

Nee  sic  horret  iners  scelerum  contagia  mundus, 

Ut  gladiis  egeant  civilia  bella  coactis. 

Sit  mens  ista  quidem  cunctis,  ut  vestra  recusent 

Fata,  nee  haec  alius  committat  proelia  miles.  325 

Cui  non  conspecto  languebit  dextra  parente 

Telaque  diversi  prohibebunt  spargere  fratres  ? 

Finis  adest  scelerum,^  si  non  committitis  ullis 

Arma,  quibus  fas  est.     Nobis  haec  summa  precandi : 

Terribiles  aquilas  infestaque  signa  relinquas  330 

Urbe  procul  nostrisque  velis  te  credere  muris, 

Excludique  sinas  admisso  Caesare  bellum. 

Sit  locus  exceptus  sceleri,  Magnoque  tibique 

Tutus,  ut,  invictae  fatum  si  consulat  urbi, 

Foedera  si  placeant,  sit,  quo  veniatis  inermes.  335 

Vel,  cum  tanta  vocent  discrimina  Martis  Hiberi, 

Quid  rapidum  deflectis  iter  ?  non  pondera  rerimi 

Nee  momenta  sumus,  numquam  felicibus  armis 

Usa  manus,  patriae  primis  a  sedibus  exul, 

Et  post  translatas  exustae  Phocidos  arces  340 

Moenibus  exiguis  alieno  in  litore  tuti, 

Inlustrat  quos  sola  fides.     Si  claudere  muros 

Obsidione  paras  et  vi  perfringere  portas, 

Excepisse  faces  tectis  et  tela  parati, 

Undarum  raptos  aversis  fontibus  haustus  345 

1  scelerum  Schroder;  rerum  M88. 


1  That  is,  soldiers  who  are  not  Romans. 

2  By  an  error  which  is  often  repeated  in  the  context,  Phocis  in 
Greece  is  confused  with  Phocaea  in  Asia. 

138 


BOOK   III 

know  only  from  his  thunderbolts  that  the  Thunderer 
still  reigned  in  the  sky  without  a  rival.  Moreover, 
countless  nations  are  speeding  to  the  fray  from  every 
quarter;  nor  is  mankind  so  slow  to  fight,  so  averse 
to  the  contagion  of  crime,  that  civil  war  need  compel 
recruits.  We  wish  indeed  that  all  men  had  this 
purpose — to  refuse  a  share  in  Roman  destiny,  and 
that  no  foreign  soldier  should  fight  in  your  quarrel. 
What  Roman  arm  will  not  be  enfeebled  by  the  sight 
of  his  father  ?  who  will  not  be  hindered  from  hurling 
his  weapon  when  he  sees  his  brothers  in  the  ranks  of 
the  foe  }  The  civil  war  will  soon  end,  if  you  refrain 
from  enlisting  those  whom  alone  it  is  lawful  to 
enlist.^  For  ourselves,  this  is  the  sum  total  of  our 
petition  :  leave  your  dreaded  eagles,  your  formidable 
j;  standards,  at  a  distance  from  our  city,  and  be  willing 
to  trust  yourself  within  our  walls;  permit  us  to 
let  Caesar  in  and  keep  war  out.  Let  there  be  one 
spot  exempt  from  crime,  safe  for  Magnus  and  safe 
for  you.  So,  if  Fortune  is  merciful  to  unconquered 
Rome  and  peace  is  resolved  upon,  you  two  will  have 
a  place  where  you  can  meet  unarmed.  Again,  when 
you  are  summoned  to  Spain  by  so  great  a  crisis  of 
the  war,  why  do  you  turn  hither  your  hasty  march  } 
We  have  no  weight  in  affairs,  no  power  to  turn  the 
scale.  Our  people  has  never  been  victorious  in  war. 
Driven  from  the  ancient  seat  of  our  nation,  when 
Phocis^  was  burnt  down  and  her  towers  were  removed, 
we  dwell  on  a  foreign  shore  and  owe  our  safety  to 
narrow  walls ;  and  our  only  glory  is  our  fidelity.  If 
you  intend  to  blockade  our  walls  and  break  down 
our  gates  by  storm,  then  we  are  ready :  we  shall 
receive  firebrands  and  missiles  upon  our  houses ;  if 
you  divert  our  springs,  we  shall  dig   for   a   hasty 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Quaerere  et  efFossam  sitientes  lambere  terram, 

Et,  desit  si  larga  Ceres,  tunc  horrida  cerni 

Foedaque  contingi  maculato  attingere  morsu. 

Nee  pavet  hie  populus  pro  libertate  subire, 

Obsessum  Poeno  gessit  quae  Marte  Saguntum.  360 

Pectoribus  rapti  matrum  frustraque  trahentes 

Ubera  sicca  fame  medios  mittentur  in  ignes. 

Uxor  et  a  caro  poscet  sibi  fata  marito, 

Volnera  miscebunt  fratres  bellumque  coacti 

Hoc  potius  civile  gerent."     Sic  Graia  iuventus  355 

Finierat,  cum  turbato  iam  prodita  voltu 

Ira  ducis  tandem  testata  est  voce  dolorem : 

"  Vana  movet  Graios  nostri  fiducia  cursus. 
Quamvis  Hesperium  mundi  properemus  ad  axem, 
Massiliam  delere  vacat.     Gaudete,  cohortes  :  360 

Obvia  praebentur  fatorum  munere  bella. 
Ventus  ut  amittit  vires,  nisi  robore  densae 
Occurrunt  silvae,  spatio  diffusus  inani, 
Utque  perit  magnus  nullis  obstantibus  ignis, 
Sic  hostes  mihi  desse  nocet,  damnumque  putamus       365 
Armorum,  nisi  qui  vinci  potuere  rebellant. 
Sed  si  solus  earn  dimissis  degener  armis. 
Tunc  mihi  tecta  patent.      Iam  non  excludere  tantum, 
Inclusisse  volunt.     At  enim  contagia  belli 
Dira  fugant.      Dabitis  poenas  pro  pace  petita,  370 

Et  nihil  esse  meo  discetis  tutius  aevo 
Quam  duce  me  bellum."    Sic  postquam  fatus,  ad  urbem 

*  8aguntum  in  Spain  claimed,  like  Massilia,  to  be  of  Greek 
origin.  It  was  taken  by  Hannibal  in  218  b.c.  after  a  memorable 
siege. 

140 


BOOK   III 

draught  of  water  and  lick  with  parched  tongues  the 
earth  we  have  dug;  and,  if  bread  run  short,  then 
we  shall  pollute  our  lips  by  gnawing  things  hideous 
to  see  and  foul  to  touch.  In  defence  of  freedom  we 
do  not  shrink  from  sufferings  that  were  bravely  borne 
by  Saguntuni  ^  when  beset  by  the  army  of  Carthage. 
Our  infants,  torn  from  their  mothers'  arms  and 
tugging  in  vain  at  breasts  dry  with  famine,  shall  be 
hurled  into  the  midst  of  the  flames ;  wives  shall 
seek  death  at  the  hands  of  loved  husbands ;  brother 
shall  exchange  wounds  with  brother,  and  shall 
choose,  if  driven  to  it,  that  form  of  civil  war."  Thus 
tiie  Greeks  ended  speaking,  and  Caesar's  wrath, 
betrayed  already  by  his  clouded  countenance,  at  last 
proved  his  resentment  by  s])okcn  word  : 
"  '*  These  Greeks  trust  to  my  haste,  but  their  trust 
is  vain ;  though  I  am  hastening  to  the  western 
region  of  the  world,  I  have  time  to  destroy  Massilia. 
Rejoice,  my  soldiers  !  By  favour  of  destiny  war  is 
offered  you  in  the  course  of  your  march.  As  a  gale, 
unless  it  meets  with  thick-timbered  forests,  loses 
strength  and  is  scattered  through  empty  space,  and 
as  a  great  fire  sinks  when  there  is  nothing  in  its  way 
— so  the  absence  of  a  foe  is  destructive  to  me,  and  I 
think  my  arms  wasted  if  those  who  might  have  been 
conquered  fail  to  fight  against  me.  They  say  that 
their  city  is  open  to  me  if  I  disband  my  army  and 
enter  alone  and  degraded.  Their  real  purpose  is 
not  merely  to  keep  me  out,  but  to  shut  me  in.  They 
say  that  they  seek  to  drive  away  the  horrid  taint  of 
war.  They  shall  suffer  for  seeking  peace  ;  they  shall 
learn  that  in  my  days  none  are  safe  but  those  who 
fight  under  my  banner."  With  these  words  he 
turned  his  march  against  the  citizens  who  feared 

141 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUGANUS 

Haud  trepidam  convertit  iter ;  cum  moenia  clausa 
Conspicit  et  densa  iuvenum  vallata  corona. 

Haud  procul  a  muris  tumulus  surgentis  in  altum       375 
Telluris  parvum  difFuso  vertice  campum 
Explicat ;  haec  patiens  longo  munimine  cingi 
Visa  duci  rupes  titisque  aptissima  castris. 
Proxima  pars  urbis  celsam  consurgit  in  arcem 
Par  tumulo,  mediisque  sedent  convallibus  arva.  »80 

Tunc  res  inmenso  placuit  statura  labore, 
Aggere  diversos  vasto  committere  colles. 
Sed  prius,  ut  totam,  qua  terra  cingitur,  urbem 
Clauderet,  a  summis  perduxit  ad  aequora  castris 
Longum  Caesar  opus,  fontesque  et  pabula  campi        385 
Amplexus  fossa  densas  tollentia  pinnas 
Caespitibus  crudaque  extruxit  bracchia  terra. 

lam  satis  hoc  Graiae  memorandum  contigit  urbi 
Aeternumque  decus,  quod  non  inpulsa  nee  ipso 
Strata  metu  tenuit  flagrantis  in  omnia  belli  390 

Praecipitem  cursum,  raptisque  a  Caesare  cunctis 
Vincitur  una  mora.     Quantum  est,  quod  fata  tenentur, 
Quodque  virum  toti  properans  inponere  mundo 
Hos  perdit  Fortuna  dies !     Tunc  omnia  late 
Procumbunt  nemora  et  spoliantur  robore  silvae,  396 

Ut,  cum  terra  levis  mediam  virgultaque  molem 
Suspendant,  struct  a  laterum  conpage  ligatam 
Artet  humum,  pressus  ne  cedat  turribus  agger. 

Lucus  erat  longo  numquam  violatus  ab  aevo, 
Obscurum  cingens  conexis  aera  ramis  400 

142 


BOOK    III 

him  not ;  and  then  he  saw  the  walls  closed  and 
fenced  with  a  crowded  ring  of  warriors. 

Not  far  from  the  walls  a  hill  rose  above  the 
level  land  and  expanded  into  a  small  plain  at  its 
flattened  top.  This  height  seemed  to  Caesar  capable 
of  being  surrounded  by  a  line  of  fortifications,  and  a 
safe  site  to  pitch  his  camp.  The  nearest  part  of  the 
town  rises  in  a  lofty  citadel  as  high  as  the  hill 
outside,  and  the  land  between  sinks  in  hollows. 
Then  Caesar  decided  on  a  plan  that  would  cost 
endless  toil — to  join  the  opposing  heights  by  an 
immense  rampart  of  earth.  But  first,  in  order  to 
blockade  the  town  entirely  on  its  landward  side,  he 
carried  a  long  line  of  works  from  his  lofty  camp  to 
the  sea,  cutting  off  by  a  trench  the  water-springs 
and  pasture-land ;  and  with  turf  and  freshly  dug 
soil  he  built  up  his  lines,  crowned  by  frequent 
battlements. 

For  the  Greek  city  this  alone  was  fame  enough 
and  immortal  glory — that  she  was  not  overborne  or 
laid  low  by  mere  terror,  but  arrested  the  headlong 
rush  of  war  blazing  over  the  world ;  that,  when 
Caesar  made  short  work  with  all  else,  she  alone  took 
time  to  conquer.  It  was  a  great  thing  to  hinder 
destiny,  and  to  cause  Fortune,  in  her  haste  to  set 
Caesar  above  all  the  world,  to  lose  those  days.  Now 
all  the  woods  were  felled  and  the  forests  stripped  of 
their  timber  far  and  wide  ;  for,  since  light  earth  and 
brushwood  made  the  mid-structure  loose,  the  timber 
was  intended  to  compress  and  bind  the  soil  by  the 
carpentry  of  the  sides,  and  to  keep  the  mound  from 
sinking  under  the  weight  of  the  towers. 

A  grove  there  was,  untouched  by  men's  hands 
from  ancient  times,  whose  interlacing  boughs  enclosed 

M3 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Et  gelidas  alte  summotis  solibus  umbras. 
Hunc  non  ruricolae  Panes  nemorumque  potentes 
Silvani  Nyraphaeque  tenent,  sed  barbara  ritu 
Sacra  deum ;  structae  diris  altaribus  arae, 
Omnisque  humanis  lustrata  cruoribus  arbor. 
Siqua  fidem  meruit  superos  mirata  vetustas, 
Illis  et  volucres  metuunt  insistere  ramis 
Et  lustris  recubare  ferae  ;  nee  ventus  in  illas 
Incubuit  silvas  excussaque  nubibus  atris 
Fulgura;  non  ulli  frondem  praebentibus  aurae 
Arboribus  suus  horror  inest.     Tum  plurima  nigris 
Fontibus  unda  cadit,  simulacraque  maesta  deorum 
Arte  carent  caesisque  extant  informia  truneis. 
Ipse  situs  putrique  facit  iam  robore  pallor 
Attonitos  ;  non  volgatis  sacra ta  figuris 
Numina  sic  metuunt :  tantum  terroribus  addit, 
Quos  timeant,  non  nosse  deos.     Iam  fama  ferebat 
Saepe  cavas  motu  terrae  mugire  cavernas, 
Et  procumbentes  iterum  consurgere  taxos, 
Et  non  ardentis  fulgere  incendia  silvae, 
Roboraque  amplexos  circumfluxisse  dracones. 
Non  ilium  cultu  populi  propiore  frequentant 
Sed  cessere  deis.      Medio  cum  Phoebus  in  axe  est 
Aut  caelum  nox  atra  tenet,  pavet  ipse  sacerdos 
Accessus  dominumque  timet  deprendere  luci. 

Hanc  iubetinmisso  silvam  procumbere  ferro ; 
Nam  vicina  operi  belloque  intacta  priore 
Inter  nudatos  stabat  densissima  montes, 
Sed  fortes  tremuere  manus,  motique  verenda 

144 


BOOK    III 

a  space  of  darkness  and  cold  shade,  and  banished  the 
sunlight  far  above.  No  rural  Pan  dwelt  there,  no 
Silvanus,  ruler  of  the  woods,  no  Nymphs ;  but  gods 
were  worshipped  there  with  savage  rites,  the  altars 
were  heaped  with  hideous  offerings,  and  every  tree 
was  sprinkled  with  human  gore.  On  those  boughs 
— if  antiquity,  reverential  of  the  gods,  deserves  any 
credit — birds  feared  to  perch  ;  in  those  coverts  wild 
beasts  would  not  lie  down  ;  no  wind  ever  bore  down 
upon  that  wood,  nor  thunderbolt  hurled  from  black 
clouds ;  the  trees,  even  when  they  spread  their 
leaves  to  no  breeze,  rustled  of  themselves.  Water, 
also,  fell  there  in  abundance  from  dark  springs. 
The  images  of  the  gods,  grim  and  rude,  were  uncouth 
blocks  formed  of  felled  tree-trunks.  Their  mere 
antiquity  and  the  ghastly  hue  of  their  rotten  timber 
struck  terror ;  men  feel  less  awe  of  deities  worshipped 
under  familiar  forms  ;  so  much  does  it  increase  their 
sense  of  fear,  not  to  know  the  gods  whom  they 
dread.  Legend  also  told  that  often  the  subterranean 
hollows  quaked  and  bellowed,  that  yew-trees  fell  down 
and  rose  again,  that  the  glare  of  conflagration  came 
from  trees  that  were  not  on  fire,  and  that  serpents 
twined  and  glided  round  the  stems.  The  people 
never  resorted  thither  to  worship  at  close  quarters, 
but  left  the  place  to  the  gods.  For,  when  the  sun 
is  in  mid-heaven  or  dark  night  fills  the  sky,  the 
priest  himself  dreads  their  approach  and  fears  to 
surprise  the  lord  of  the  grove. 

This  grove  was  sentenced  by  Caesar  to  fall  before 
the  stroke  of  the  axe ;  for  it  grew  near  his  works. 
Spared  in  earlier  warfare,  it  stood  there  covered 
with  trees  among  hills  already  cleared.  But  strong 
arms  faltered ;  and  the  men,  awed  by  the  solemnity 

145 

VOL.    I.  F 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Maiestate  loci,  si  robora  sacra  ferirent,  430 

In  sua  credebant  redituras  membra  secures. 

Inplicitas  magno  Caesar  torpore  cohortes 

Ut  vidit,  primus  raptam  librare  bipennem 

Ausus  et  aeriam  ferro  proscindere  quercum 

EfFatur  merso  violata  in  robora  ferro  :  436 

"  lam  ne  quis  vestrum  dubitet  subvertere  silvam, 

Credite  me  fecisse  nefas."     Turn  paruit  omnis 

Imperiis  non  sublato  secura  pavore 

Turba,  sed  expensa  superorum  et  Caesaris  ira. 

Procumbunt  orni,  nodosa  inpellitur  ilex,  440 

Silvaque  Dodones  et  Huctibus  aptior  alnus 

Et  non  plebeios  luctus  testata  cupressus 

Tum  primum  posuere  comas  et  fronde  carentes 

Admisere  diem,  propulsaque  robcu'e  denso 

Sustinuit  se  silva  cadens.     Gemuere  videntes  445 

Gallorum  populi ;  muris  sed  clausa  iuventus 

Exultat ;  quis  enim  laesos  inpune  putaret 

Esse  deos  ?     Servat  multos  fortuna  nocentes, 

Et  tantum  miseris  irasci  numina  possunt. 

Utque  satis  caesi  nemoris,  quaesita  per  agros  450 

Plaustra  ferunt,  curvoque  soli  cessantis  aratro 

Agricolae  raptis  annum  flevere  iuvencis. 

Dux  tamen  inpatiens  haesuri  ad  moenia  Martis 
Versus  ad  Hispanas  acies  extremaque  mundi 
lussit  bella  geri.     Stellatis  axibus  agger  455 

Erigitur  geminasque  aequantes  nwenia  turres 

*  Cyparissus,    son   of   King   Telephus,    was   changed   into  4 
cypress 

146 


BOOK   III 

and  terror  of  the  place,  believed  that,  if  they  aimed 
a  blow  at  the  sacred  trunks,  their  axes  would  rebound 
against  their  own  limbs.  When  Caesar  saw  that  his 
soldiers  were  sore  hindered  and  paralysed,  he  was 
the  first  to  snatch  an  axe  and  swing  it,  and  dared  to 
cleave  a  towering  oak  with  the  steel :  driving  the 
blade  into  the  desecrated  wood,  he  cried  :  "  Believe 
that  I  am  guilty  of  sacrilege,  and  thenceforth  none 
of  you  need  fear  to  cut  down  the  trees."  Then  all 
the  men  obeyed  his  bidding ;  they  were  not  easy  in 
their  minds,  nor  had  their  fears  been  removed  ;  but 
they  had  weighed  Caesar's  wrath  against  the  wrath 
of  heaven.  Ash  trees  were  felled,  gnarled  holm- 
oaks  overthrown ;  Dodona's  oak,  the  alder  that  suits 
the  sea,  the  cypress  that  bears  witness  to  a  monarch's 
grief,^  all  lost  their  leaves  for  the  first  time ;  robbed 
of  their  foliage,  they  let  in  the  daylight;  and  the 
toppling  wood,  when  smitten,  supported  itself  by 
the  close  growth  of  its  timber.  The  peoples  of  Gaul 
groaned  at  the  sight ;  but  the  besieged  men  rejoiced; 
for  who  could  have  supposed  that  the  injury  to  the 
gods  would  go  unpunished  ?  But  Fortune  often  guards 
the  guilty,  and  the  gods  must  reserve  their  wrath 
for  the  unlucky.  When  wood  enough  was  felled, 
waggons  were  sought  through  the  countryside  to 
convey  it;  and  the  husbandmen,  robbed  of  their 
oxen,  mourned  for  the  harvest  of  the  soil  left 
untouched  by  the  crooked  plough. 

But  Caesar  could  not  brook  this  protracted  warfare 
before  the  walls :  he  turned  to  the  army  in  Spain 
and  the  limits  of  the  world,  leaving  orders  that  the 
operations  should  go  on.  The  mound  was  built  up 
with  planks  arranged  lattice-wise,  and  two  towers, 
as  high  as  the  town  walls,  were  placed  upon  it ;  the 

147 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Accipit ;  hae  nullo  fixerunt  robore  terram 

Sed  per  iter  longum  causa  repsere  latenti. 

Cum  tantum  nutaret  onus^  telluris  inanes 

Coiicussisse  sinus  quaerentem  erumpere  ventum  460 

Credidit  et  muros  mirata  est  stare  iuventus. 

Illinc  tela  cadunt  excelsas  urbis  in  arces. 

Sed  maior  Graio  Romana  in  corpora  ferro 

Vis  inerat.     Nee  enim  solis  excussa  lacertis 

Lancea^  sed  tenso  ballistae  turbine  rapta,  465 

Haud  unum  contenta  latus  transire  quiescit, 

Sed  pandens  perque  arma  viam  perque  ossa  relicta 

Morte  fugit :  superest  telo  post  volnera  cursus. 

At  saxum  quotiens  ingenti  verberis  actu 

Excutitur,  qualis  rupes,  quam  vertice  mentis  470 

Abscidit  in[)ulsu  ventorum  adiuta  vetustas, 

Frangit  cuncta  ruens  nee  tantum  corpora  pressa 

Exanimat,  totos  cum  sanguine  dissipat  artus. 

Ut  tamen  hostiles  densa  testudine  muros 

Tecta  subit  virtus,  armisque  innexa  priores  475 

Arma  ferunt,  galeamque  extensus  protegit  umbo, 

Quae  prius  ex  longo  nocuerunt  missa  recessu, 

lam  post  terga  cadunt.      Nee  Grais  flectere  iactum 

Aut  facilis  labor  est  longinqua  ad  tela  parati 

Tormenti  mutare  modum  ;  sed  pondere  solo  480 

Content!  nudis  evolvunt  saxa  lacertis. 

Dum  fuit  armorum  series,  ut  grand  in  e  tecta 

Innocua  percussa  sonant,  sic  omnia  tela 

Respuit ;  at  postquam  virtus  incerta  virorum 


*  They  moved  on  rollers. 

2  The  formation  called  testudo  (tortoise),  in  which  the  ov 
lapping  shields  protect  the  men  below. 


148 


3 


BOOK   III 

timber  of  the  towers  was  not  driven  into  the  ground, 
but  they  crawled  from  far,  moved  by  hidden  means. ^ 
When  the  tall  structure  nodded,  the  besieged 
believed  that  wind,  seeking  to  burst  forth,  had 
shaken  the  hollow  caverns  of  the  earth,  and  mar- 
velled that  their  walls  remained  standing.  From 
the  towers  missiles  were  thrown  against  the  lofty 
citadel  of  the  town.  But  the  shot  of  the  Greeks 
fell  with  greater  force  on  the  bodies  of  the  Romans ; 
for  their  javelins,  not  sped  merely  by  men's  arms,  but 
hurled  by  the  tension  of  the  powerful  catapult,  pierced 
more  than  one  body  before  they  were  willing  to 
stop :  through  armour  and  through  bones  they  cleft 
a  broad  way  and  passed  on,  leaving  death  behind 
them  ;  after  dealing  its  wound  the  weapon  flew  on. 
And  every  boulder  launched  by  the  mighty  impulse 
of  a  released  cord,  like  a  crag  which  length  of  time, 
aided  by  the  blast  of  the  winds,  tears  from  a  moun- 
tain-top, broke  all  things  in  its  course,  not  merely 
crushing  out  the  lives  of  its  victims,  but  annihilating 
limbs  and  blood  together.  But  when  brave  men 
approached  the  enemy's  wall  in  close  formation^  — 
the  foremost  carrying  shields  which  overlapped  the 
shields  of  those  behind,  and  their  helmets  protected 
by  the  roof  of  bucklers — then  the  missiles  which  had 
dealt  death  at  long  range,  flew  over  their  heads ; 
nor  was  it  easy  for  the  Greeks  to  shift  the  range  or 
change  the  aim  of  engines  made  to  hurl  their  bolts 
to  a  distance ;  and  so  they  heaved  over  boulders 
with  unaided  arms,  relying  on  the  weight  alone. 
The  locking  of  the  shields,  while  it  continued,  flung 
off  every  missile,  just  as  a  roof  rattles  under  the 
harmless  blows  of  hail ;  but  when  the  weariness  and 
wavering  valour  of  the  soldiers  made  gaps  in  the 

149 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Perpetuam  rupit  defesso  milite  cratem. 
Singula  continuis  cesserunt  ictibus  arma. 
Tunc  adoperta  levi  procedit  vinea  terra. 
Sub  cuius  pluteis  et  tecta  fronte  latentes 
Moliri  nunc  ima  parant  et  vertere  ferro 
Moenia  ;  nunc  aries  suspense  fortior  ictu 
Incussus  densi  conpagem  solvere  muri 
Temptat  et  inpositis  unum  subducere  saxis. 
Sed  super  et  flammis  et  magnae  fragmine  molis 
Et  sudibus  crebris  et  adusti  roboris  ictu 
Perctissae  cedunt  crates,  frustraque  labore 
Exhausto  fessus  repetit  tentoria  miles. 

Summa  fuit  Grais,  starent  ut  moenia,  voti : 
Ultro  acies  inferre  parant  armisque  coruscas 
Noeturni  texere  faces,  audaxque  iuventus 
Erupit.     Non  hasta  viris,  non  letifer  arcus, 
Telum  flamma  fuit,  rapiensque  incendia  ventus 
Per  Romana  tulit  celeri  munimina  cursu. 
Nee,  quamvis  viridi  luctetur  robore,  lentas 
Ignis  agit  vires,  taeda  sed  raptus  ab  omni 
Consequitur  nigri  spatiosa  volumina  fumi. 
Nee  solum  silvas  sed  saxa  ingentia  solvit, 
Et  crudae  putri  fluxerunt  pulvere  cautes. 
Procubuit  maiorque  iacens  apparuit  agger. 

Spes  victis  telluris  abit,  placuitque  profundo 
Fortunam  temptare  maris.     Non  robore  picto 
Ornatas  decuit  fulgens  tutela  carinas, 
Sed  rudis  et  qualis  procumbit  montibus  arbor 

*  I.e.  the  mantlets. 
150 


BOOK   III 

armament,  the  shields  gave  way,  one  by  one,  to  the 
unceasing  battery.  Next,  mantlets,  lightly  covered 
with  turf,  were  brought  up;  and  the  besiegers, 
screened  by  the  boards  and  covered  fronts  of  the 
mantlets,  strove  to  sap  the  foundations  and  upset  the 
walls  with  tools  of  iron ;  and  now  the  ram,  more 
effective  with  its  swinging  blow,  tries  by  its  impact 
to  break  the  solid  fabric  of  the  wall  and  remove  one 
stone  from  those  laid  above  it;  but  smitten  from 
above  by  fire  and  huge  jagged  stones,  by  a  rain  of 
stakes  and  by  blows  from  oaken  poles  hardened  by 
fire,  the  hurdles  ^  gave  ground,  and  the  besiegers, 
foiled  after  so  great  an  effort,  went  back  weary  to 
their  tents. 

The  safety  of  their  walls  had  been  the  utmost 
that  the  Greeks  hoped  for ;  but  now  they  prepared 
to  take  the  offensive.  By  night  they  hid  flaming 
torches  behind  their  shields,  and  their  warriors 
boldly  sallied  forth.  The  weapon  they  bore  was 
neither  spear  nor  death-dealing  bow,  but  fire  alone ; 
and  the  wind,  whirling  the  conflagration  along,  bore 
it  swiftly  over  the  Roman  works.  Though  con- 
tending with  green  wood,  the  fire  was  not  slow 
to  put  forth  its  strength  :  flying  from  every  torch, 
it  followed  close  on  huge  volumes  of  black  smoke, 
and  consumed  not  merely  timber  but  mighty  stones  ; 
and  hard  rocks  were  dissolved  into  crumbling  dust. 
Down  fell  the  mound,  and  looked  even  larger  on 
the  ground. 

The  defeated  Romans  despaired  of  success  on 
land  and  resolved  to  try  their  fortune  on  the  sea. 
Their  ships  were  not  adorned  with  painted  timbers 
or  graced  with  a  glittering  figure-head :  unshaped 
trees,  even  as  they  were  felled  on  the  hills,  were 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Conseritur,  stabilis  navalibus  area  bellis. 

Et  iam  turrigeram  Bruti  comitata  carinam 

Venerat  in  fluctus  Rhodani  cum  gurgite  classis  615 

Stoechados  arva  tenens.     Nee  non  et  Graia  iuventus 

Omne  suum  fatis  voluit  committere  robur 

Grandaevosque  senes  mixtis  armavit  ephebis. 

Accepit  non  sola  viros^  quae  stabat  in  undis, 

Classis  :  et  emeritas  repetunt  navalibus  alnos.  620 

Ut  matutinos  spargens  super  aequora  Phoebus 

Fregit  aquis  radios  et  liber  nubibus  aether 

Et  posito  Borea  pacemque  tenentibus  Austris 

Servatuni  bello  iaeuit  mare,  movit  ab  omni 

Quisque  suam  statione  ratem,  paribusque  lacertis       525 

Caesaris  hinc  puppes,  hinc  Graio  remige  classis 

ToUitur  ;  inpulsae  tonsis  tremuere  carinae, 

Crebraque  sublimes  convellunt  verbera  puppes. 

Cornua  Romanae  classis  valldaeque  triremes 

Quasque  quater  surgens  extructi  remigis  ordo  530 

Commovet  et  plures  quae  mergunt  aequore  pinus, 

Multiplices  cinxere  rates.     Hoc  robur  aperto 

Oppositum  pelago  :  lunata  classe  recedunt 

Ordine  contentae  gemino  crevisse  Liburnae. 

Celsior  at  cunctis  Bruti  praetoria  puppis  535 

Verberibus  senis  agitur  molemque  profundo 

Invehit  et  summis  longe  petit  aequora  remis. 

Ut  tantum  medii  fuerat  maris,  utraque  classis 
Quod  semel  excussis  posset  transcurrere  tonsis, 


^  D.  Brutus,   Caesar's  admiral,  is  not  to  be  confused  vvitl 
M.  Brutus  alread}'^  mentioned. 
•  Islands  off  Marseilles. 

152 


BOOK   III 

joined  together  to  form  a  steady  platform  for  fighting 
at  sea.  By  now  too  the  fleet,  escorting  the  turret- 
ship  of  Brutus,^  had  come  down  with  the  waters 
of  the  Rhone  to  the  sea,  and  was  anchored  off  the 
land  of  the  Stoechades.^  The  Greeks  were  no  less 
ready  to  trust  all  their  forces  to  the  mercy  of 
fortune  :  they  put  aged  sires  together  with  strip- 
lings in  the  ranks.  They  manned  their  fleet  which 
rode  at  anchor,  and  even  searched  their  dockyards 
for  ships  past  service.  The  sun  scattered  his 
morning  beams  over  the  sea  and  splintered  them 
on  the  water  ;  the  sky  was  free  from  clouds ;  the 
North  wind  was  at  rest  and  the  South  winds  held 
their  peace  ;  the  sea  lay  smooth,  reserved  for  battle. 
Then  each  man  started  his  vessel  from  its  anchorage, 
and  the  two  fleets  leaped  forward  with  rival  strength 
of  arm — Caesar's  ships  on  one  side  and  the  fleet 
rowed  by  Greeks  on  the  other  ;  the  hulls  tremble 
to  the  beat  of  the  oars,  and  the  rapid  stroke  tears 
the  tall  vessels  through  the  water.  The  wings 
of  the  Roman  fleet  were  closed  in  by  ships  of  many 
kinds — stout  triremes,  and  vessels  driven  by  four 
tiers  of  rowers  rising  one  above  another,  and  others 
that  dipped  in  the  sea  a  still  greater  number  of 
blades.  These  heavy  ships  were  set  as  a  barrier 
against  the  open  sea ;  the  galleys,  content  to  rise 
aloft  with  but  two  banks  of  oars,  were  further  back 
in  crescent  formation.  Towering  above  them  all, 
the  flag-ship  of  Brutus,  driven  by  six  rows  of  oars 
and  advancing  its  bulk  over  the  deep,  reaches  for 
the  water  far  below  with  its  topmost  tier. 

When  only  so  much  of  sea  separated  the  fleets 
as  each  of  them  could  cover  with  one  lusty  stroke 
of  oars,  then    countless  cries  rose  together  in  the 

^53 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Innuraerae  vasto  miscentur  in  aethere  voces,  540 

Remorumque  sonus  premitur  clamore,  nee  ullae 

Audiri  potuere  tubae.     Turn  caerula  verrunt 

Atque  in  transtra  cadunt  et  remis  pectora  pulsant. 

Ut  primum  rostris  crepuerunt  obvia  rostra, 

In  puppim  rediere  rates,  emissaque  tela  545 

Aera  texerunt  vacuumque  cadentia  pontum. 

Et  iam  diductis  extendunt  cornua  proris, 

Diversaeque  rates  laxata  classe  receptae. 

Ut,  quotiens  aestus  Zephyris  Eurisque  repugnat. 

Hue  abeunt  fluctus,  illo  mare,  sic  ubi  puppes  550 

Sulcato  varios  duxerunt  gurgite  tractus. 

Quod  tulit  ilia  ratis  remis,  haec  rettulit  aequor. 

Sed  Grais  habiles  pugnamque  lacessere  pinus 

Et  temptare  fugam  nee  longo  frangere  gyro 

Cursum  nee  tardae  flectenti  cedere  clavo ;  665 

At  Romana  ratis  stabilem  praebere  carinam 

Certior  et  terrae  similem  bellantibus  usum. 

Tunc  in  signifera  residenti  puppe  magistro 

Brutus  ait :  "  Paterisne  acies  errare  profundo, 

Artibus  et  certas  pelagi  ?  iam  consere  bellum,  660 

Phocaicis  medias  rostris  oppone  carinas." 

Paruit,  obliquas  et  praebuit  hostibus  alnos. 

Turn  quaecumque  ratis  temptavit  robora  Bruti, 

Ictu  victa  suo  percussae  capta  cohaesit ; 

Ast  alias  manicaeque  ligant  teretesque  catenae,  666 

Seque  teneiit  remis  :  tecto  stetit  aequore  bellum. 


154 


BOOK    III 

wide  heaven,  till  the  splash  of  the  blades  was 
drowned  by  shouting  and  no  trumpet  could  be 
heard.  Then  the  men  sweep  the  sea,  bending 
back  to  the  thwarts  behind  and  bringing  the  oars 
against  their  chests.  As  soon  as  beak  met  beak 
and  clashed,  the  ships  backed  astern,  and  a  volley 
of  missiles  covered  the  sky  and,  as  they  fell,  the 
sea  between  the  ships.  And  now  the  Romans 
deploy  their  wings,  leaving  space  between  the 
prows,  and  their  open  order  gives  entrance  to  the 
enemy's  ships.  As,  when  the  tide  runs  against 
winds  from  West  or  East,  the  waves  are  driven  in 
one  direction  and  the  body  of  the  sea  in  another ; 
so,  when  the  vessels  ploughed  furrows  in  the  sea 
this  way  and  that,  the  water  which  the  oars  of 
one  ship  threw  behind  it  was  thrown  by  another 
in  the  opposite  direction.  But  the  Greek  ships 
were  easily  handled  for  attack  or  retreat,  quick 
to  change  course  with  a  sharp  turn  and  to  answer 
the  guiding  helm,  while  the  Roman  ships  were  safer 
in  this — that  they  offered  a  steady  platform  to 
the  fighter  and  a  foothold  like  dry  ground.  Then 
Brutus  hailed  his  steersman  who  sat  on  the  poop 
beside  the  ensign :  "  Why  suffer  the  battle  to 
straggle  over  the  sea  ?  why  seek  to  rival  the  foe's 
manoeuvres?  Mass  the  ships  for  fighting  at  once, 
and  offer  our  broadsides  to  the  beaks  of  the 
Phocaeans."  The  man  obeyed  and  exposed  the 
ship's  broadside  to  the  enemy.  Thereafter,  each 
ship  that  tested  the  timber  of  Brutus  was  defeated 
by  its  own  blow  and  clung,  a  captive,  to  the  vessel 
it  had  rammed,  while  others  were  noosed  by 
grappling-irons  and  smooth  chains,  or  were  en- 
tangled by  their  own  oars.  The  sea  was  no  longer 
visible,  and  the  battle  became  stationary. 

155 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

lam-non  excussis  torquentur  tela  lacertis. 
Nee  longinqua  cadunt  iaculato  volnera  ferro, 
Miscenturque  manus.     Navali  plurima  bello 
Ensis  agit.     Stat  quisque  suae  de  robore  puppis  570 

Pronus  in  adversos  ictuSj  nuUique  perempti 
In  ratibus  cecidere  suis.     Cruor  altus  in  unda 
Spumat,  et  obducti  concrete  sanguine  fluctus. 
Et  quas  inmissi  traxerunt  vincula  ferri. 
Has  prohibent  iungi  conferta  cadavera  puppes.  675 

Semianimes  alii  vastum  subiere  profundum 
Hauseruntque  suo  permixtum  sanguine  pontum. 
Hi  luctantem  animam  lenta  cum  morte  trahentes 
Fractarum  subita  ratium  periere  ruina. 
Inrita  tela  suas  peragunt  in  gurgite  caedes,  580 

Et  quodcumque  cadit  frustrate  pondere  ferrum, 
Exceptum  mediis  invenit  volnus  in  undis. 

Phocaicis  Romana  ratis  vallata  carinis 
Robore  diducto  dextrum  laevumque  tuetur 
Aequo  Marte  latus  ;  cuius  dum  pugnat  ab  alta  685 

Puppe  Catus  Graiumque  audax  aplustre  retentat, 
Terga  simul  pariter  missis  et  pectora  telis 
Transigitur  ;  medio  concurrit  pectore  ferrum, 
Et  stetit  incertus,  flueret  quo  volnere,  sanguis, 
Donee  utrasque  simul  largus  cruor  expulit  hastas       690 
Divisitque  animam  sparsitque  in  volnera  letuni. 
Derigit  hue  puppem  miseri  quoque  dextra  Telonis, 
Qua  nuUam  melius  pelago  turbante  carinae 
Audivere  manum,  nee  lux  est  notior  ulli 
Crastina,  seu  Phoebum  videat  seu  cornua  lunae,  695 

Semper  Venturis  conponere  carbasa  ventis, 

IS6 


BOOK    III 

No  longer  were  weapons  hurled  from  vigorous 
arms,  no  longer  were  the  wounds  of  the  hurtling 
steel  inflicted  at  a  distance ;  but  men  fought  hand 
to  hand.  The  sword  played  the  chief  part  in  that 
fight  at  sea.  Each  man  leaned  forward  from  the 
bulwark  of  his  own  ship  to  strike  his  foe,  and 
none  fell  dead  upon  their  own  decks.  Their  blood 
foamed  deep  upon  the  wave,  and  a  crust  of  gore 
covered  the  sea.  The  ships  that  were  caught  and 
dragged  by  the  iron  chains  were  prevented  from 
coming  close  by  the  crowded  corpses.  Some  sailors 
sank  half  alive  into  the  bottomless  deep  and  drank 
the  brine  mixed  with  their  own  blood.  Others, 
while  still  drawing  breath  that  struggled  against 
tardy  death,  perished  by  the  sudden  downfall  of 
their  wrecked  craft.  Weapons  that  missed  their 
aim  killed  men  in  the  water  on  their  own  account ; 
and  every  missile  that  fell  with  its  heavy  blow 
baffled  was  met  and  found  a  mark  in  mid-ocean. 

A  Roman  ship,  hemmed  in  by  Phocaean  craft, 
was  defending  her  port  and  starboard  with  divided 
crew  but  equal  hardihood.  Catus,  while  fighting 
on  the  raised  poop  and  boldly  grasping  the  stern- 
ornament  of  a  foe,  was  pierced  in  back  and  breast 
at  the  same  moment  by  weapons  launched  together  ; 
the  weapons  met  in  his  body,  and  the  blood  stayed, 
uncertain  through  which  wound  to  flow  ;  at  last  the 
torrent  from  his  veins  drove  out  both  javelins  at 
once,  parting  his  life  in  two  and  distributing  his 
death  between  the  wounds.  Hither  also  ill-fated 
Telo  steered  his  bark  ;  to  no  hand  were  ships  on 
stormy  seas  more  obedient  than  to  his  ;  and  none, 
from  observation  of  the  sun  or  the  moon's  horns, 
could    better   forecast  the    morrow,    so  as   ever  to 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Hie  Latiae  rostro  conpagem  ruperat  alni, 

Pila  sed  in  medium  venere  trementia  pectus, 

Avertitque  ratem  morientis  dextra  magistri. 

Dum  cupit  in  sociam  Gyareus  erepere  puppem,  600 

Excipit  inmissum  suspensa  per  ilia  ferrum, 

Adfixusque  rati  telo  retinente  pependit. 

Stant  gemini  fratres,  fecundae  gloria  matris, 
Quos  eadem  variis  genuerunt  viscera  fatis. 
Discrevit  mors  saeva  vires,  unumque  relictum  606 

Agnorunt  miseri  sublato  errore  parentes, 
Aeternis  causam  lacrimis  ;  tenet  ille  dolorem 
Semper  et  amissum  fratrem  lugentibus  ofFert. 
Quorum  alter  mixtis  oblique  pectine  remis 
Ausus  Romanae  Graia  de  puppe  carinae  610 

Iniectare  manum ;  sed  earn  gravis  insuper  ictus 
Amputat ;  ilia  tamen  nisu,  quo  prenderat,  liaesit 
Deriguitque  tenens  strictis  inmortua  nervis. 
Crevit  in  adversis  virtus  :  plus  nobilis  irae 
Truncus  habet  fortique  instaurat  proelia  laeva  615 

Rapturusque  suam  procumbit  in  aequora  dextram  : 
Haec  quoque  cum  tote  manus  est  abscisa  lacerte. 
lam  clipee  telisque  carens,  non  conditus  ima 
Puppe  sed  expositus  fraternaque  pectore  nude 
Arma  tegens,  crebra  confix  us  cuspide  perstat  620 

Telaque  multorum  leto  casura  suorum 

^  He  wished  to  take  Telo's  place  at  the  helm. 
iS8 


BOOK    III 

set  his  sails  to  the  coming  winds.  He  would  have 
rammed  the  side  of  the  Roman  vessel,  had  not 
flying  javelins  pierced  to  the  centre  of  his  breast ; 
and  the  hand  of  the  dying  helmsman  steered  his 
ship  aside.  While  Gyareus  sought  to  clamber  over 
into  his  friend's  craft/  a  grapnel  was  launched  and 
caught  him  through  the  middle  as  he  dangled  in 
air ;  and  there  he  hung,  held  fast  by  the  engine 
to  the  gunwale. 

Twin  brothers  fought  there,  the  pride  of  a  fertile 
mother ;  but  the  same  womb  gave  them  birth  for 
different  deaths.  The  cruel  hand  of  death  made 
distinction  between  them ;  and  the  wretched 
parents,  no  longer  puzzled  by  the  likeness,  recog- 
nised the  one  survivor  but  found  in  him  a  source 
of  unending  sorrow ;  for  he  keeps  their  grief  ever 
present  and  recalls  his  lost  brother  to  their  mourn- 
ing hearts.  One  of  these  twins  dared  to  catch 
hold  of  a  Roman  ship  from  his  own  deck,  when 
the  oars  were  entangled  and  overlapped  each  other. 
The  hand  was  lopped  off  by  a  heavy  downward 
blow  ;  but  still  it  clung  with  the  effort  of  its  first 
grip  and,  holding  on  with  strained  muscles,  stiffened 
there  in  death.  His  valour  rose  with  disaster ; 
mutilated,  he  displays  yet  more  heroic  ardour. 
Fiercely  he  renews  the  fight  with  his  left  hand 
and  leans  forward  over  the  water  to  rescue  his 
right  hand  ;  the  left  hand  also  and  the  whole  arm 
were  cut  off.  Then  bereft  both  of  shield  and 
sword,  nut  hiding  away  in  the  bottom  of  the  ship 
but  full  in  view,  he  protects  his  brother's  shield  with 
his  own  bare  breast,  standing  firm,  though  pierced 
with  many  a  point,  and,  although  he  had  amply 
earned   his   death   already,    stopping  missiles    that 

159 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Emerita  iam  morte  tenet.     Turn  volnere  multo 

EfFugientem  animam  lassos  collegit  in  artus 

Membraque  contendit  toto,  quicumque  manebat, 

Sanguine  et  hostilem  defectis  robore  nervis  626 

Insiluit  solo  nociturus  pondere  puppem. 

Strage  virum  cumulata  ratis  mul toque  cruore 

Plena  per  obliquum  crebros  latus  accipit  ictus, 

Et,  postquam  ruptis  pelagus  conpagibus  hausit, 

Ad  summos  repleta  foros  descendit  in  undas  630 

Vicinum  involvens  contorto  vortice  pontum. 

Aequora  discedunt  mersa  diducta  carina, 

Inque  locum  puppis  cecidit  mare.     Multaque  ponto 

Praebuit  ille  dies  varii  miracula  fati. 

Ferrea  dum  puppi  rapidos  manus  inserit  uncos,       635 
Adfixit  Lycidan.     Mersus  foret  ille  profundo, 
Sed  prohibent  socii  suspensaque  crura  retentant. 
Scinditur  avolsus,  nee,  sicut  volnere,  sanguis 
Emicuit  lentus  :  ruptis  cadit  undique  venis, 
Discursusque  animae  diversa  in  membra  meantis         640 
Interceptus  aquis.     Nullius  vita  perempti 
Est  tanta  dimissa  via.      Pars  ultima  trunci 
Tradidit  in  letum  vacuos  vitalibus  artus  ; 
At  tumidus  qua  pulmo  iacet,  qua  viscera  fervent, 
Haeserunt  ibi  fata  diu  luctataque  multum  645 

Hac  cum  parte  viri  vix  omnia  membra  tulerunt. 

Dum  nimium  pugnax  unius  turba  carinae 
Incumbit  prono  lateri  vacuamque  relinquit. 


i6o 


BOOK    III 

would  in  their  fall  have  made  an  end  of  many. 
Then  the  life  that  was  departing  through  many 
wounds  he  gathered  together  into  his  spent  frame, 
and  bracing  his  limbs  with  all  his  remaining 
strength,  he  sprang  on  board  the  Roman  ship ;  his 
sinews  had  lost  their  power,  and  his  only  weapon 
was  his  weight.  She  was  piled  high  with  the 
carnage  of  her  crew  and  ran  with  blood ;  she 
suffered  blow  after  blow  on  her  broadside  ;  and,  when 
her  sides  were  shattered  and  let  in  the  sea,  she  filled 
up  to  the  top  of  her  decks  and  sank  down  into  the 
waves,  sucking  in  the  water  round  her  with  curling 
eddy.  As  the  ship  sank,  the  sea  parted  asunder 
and  then  fell  back  into  the  room  she  had  occupied. 
And  many  other  strange  forms  of  death  were  seen 
that  day  upon  the  deep. 

Thus  Lycidas  was  pierced  by  a  grappling-iron 
that  hurled  its  swift  hooks  on  board.  He  would 
have  sunk  in  the  sea,  but  for  his  comrades  who 
seized  his  legs  as  they  swung  in  air.  He  was  torn 
asunder,  and  his  blood  gushed  out,  not  trickling 
as  from  a  wound,  but  raining  on  all  sides  from 
his  severed  arteries  ;  and  the  free  play  of  the  life 
coursing  through  the  different  limbs  was  cut  off  by 
the  water.  No  other  victim's  life  escaped  through 
so  wide  a  channel.  The  lower  half  of  his  body 
resigned  to  death  the  limbs  that  contain  no  vital 
organs  ;  but  where  the  lungs  were  full  of  air  and 
the  heart  of  heat,  there  death  was  long  baffled  and 
struggled  hard  with  this  part  of  the  man,  till  with 
difficulty  it  mastered  the  whole  body. 

On  one  of  the  ships  the  crew,  too  eager  for  battle, 
leaned  on  the  tilted  gunwale  and  left  empty  the  side 
where  there  was  no  enemy.     Their  combined  weight 

i6i 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Qua  caret  hoste,  ratem,  congesto  pondere  puppis 
Versa  cava  texit  pelagus  nautasque  carina,  660 

Bracchia  nee  licuit  vasto  iactare  profundo, 
Sed  clause  periere  mari.     Tunc  unica  diri 
Conspecta  est  leti  facies,  cum  forte  natantem 
Diversae  rostris  iuvenem  fix  ere  carinae. 
Discessit  medium  tam  vastos  pectus  ad  ictus,  65 

Nee  prohibere  valent  obtritis  ossibus  artus. 
Quo  minus  aera  sonent ;  eliso  ventre  per  ora 
Eiectat  saniem  permixtus  viscere  sanguis. 
Postquam  inhibent  remis  puppes  ac  rostra  reducunt, 
Deiectum  in  pelagus  perfosso  pectore  corpus  66( 

Volneribus  transmisit  aquas.     Pars  maxima  turbae 
Naufraga  iactatis  morti  obluctata  lacertis 
Puppis  ad  auxilium  sociae  concurrit ;  at  illis, 
Robora  cum  vetitis  prensarent  altius  ulnis 
Nutaretque  ratis  populo  peritura  recepto,  66 

Jnpia  turba  super  medios  ferit  ense  lacertos. 
Bracchia  linquentes  Graia  pendentia  puppe 
A  manibus  cecidere  suis  :  non  amplius  undae 
Sustinuere  graves  in  summo  gurgite  truncos. 

lam  que  omni  fusis  nudato  milite  telis  67 

Invenit  arma  furor  :  remum  contorsit  in  hostem 
Alter,  at  hi  totum  validis  aplustre  lacertis, 
Avolsasque  rotant  expulso  remige  sedes. 
In  pugnam  fregere  rates.     Sidentia  pessum 
Corpora  caesa  tenent  spoliantque  cadayera  ferro.        67i 


162 


BOOK   III 

upset  the  craft,  so  that  she  covered  over  both  sea 
and  sailors  with  her  hull ;  it  was  impossible  to  strike 
out  on  the  open  sea,  and  they  died  in  their  ocean 
prison.  On  that  day  was  seen  an  unexampled  form 
of  dreadful  death :  it  chanced  that  a  man  in  the 
water  was  pierced  by  the  beaks  of  two  ships  meeting 
one  another.  His  breast  was  cloven  in  two  by  the 
dreadful  impact ;  the  bones  were  ground  to  powder, 
and  the  body  could  not  hinder  the  brazen  prows 
from  clashing.  The  belly  was  crushed ;  blood, 
mixed  with  flesh,  spouted  gore  through  the  mouth. 
When  the  ships  backed  water  and  withdrew  their 
beaks,  the  corpse  with  mutilated  breast  sank  and 
suffered  the  water  to  pass  through  its  wounds.  Of 
another  crew  most  were  shipwrecked  and  swam  for 
their  lives  till  they  crowded  to  get  help  from  a 
friendly  craft ;  then,  when  they  caught  hold  of  the 
gunwale  high  up,  though  they  were  warned  off, 
because  the  ship  was  unsteady  and  would  have  sunk 
if  she  had  rescued  them  all,  the  others  without  pity 
chopped  their  arms  in  two  with  the  sword  from 
their  deck.  Their  arms  still  hanging  on  the  Greek 
ship,  they  fell  and  left  their  hands  behind  them ; 
nor  did  the  surface  of  the  sea  support  any  longer  the 
weight  of  the  mutilated  bodies. 

By  now  the  fighters  had  all  discharged  their 
missiles,  and  their  hands  were  empty,  but  rage 
found  weapons.  One  hurled  an  oar  at  the  foe  ;  the 
strong  arms  of  others  launch  a  whole  stern-ornament, 
or  turn  out  the  rowers  and  tear  up  the  thwarts  for  a 
missile  ;  they  broke  up  their  ships  to  fight  with. 
They  caught  hold  of  dead  bodies  as  they  sank  to  the 
bottom,  and  robbed  the  corpses  of  the  weapons 
which  had  killed  them.     Many  a  man,  for  want  of 

163 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Multi  inopes  teli  iaculum  letale  revolsum 
Volneribus  traxere  suis  et  viscera  laeva 
Oppressere  manu,  validos  dum  praebeat  ictus 
Sanguis  et,  hostilem  cum  torserit,  exeat,  hastam. 

Nulla  tamen  plures  hoc  edidit  aequore  clades  680 

Quam  pelago  diversa  lues.     Nam  pinguibus  ignis 
Adfixus  taedis  et  tecto  sulpure  vivax 
S})argitur  ;  at  faciles  praebere  aliraenta  carinae 
Nunc  pice,  nunc  liquida  rapuere  incendia  cera. 
Nee  flammas  superant  undae,  sparsisque  per  aequor  685 
lam  ratibus  fragmenta  ferus  sibi  vindicat  ignis. 
Hie  recipit  fluctus,  extinguat  ut  aequore  flammas. 
Hi,  ne  mergantur,  tabulis  ardentibus  haerent. 
Mille  modos  inter  leti  mors  una  timori  est. 
Qua  coepere  mori.     Nee  cessat  naufraga  virtus  :         690 
Tela  legunt  deiecta  mari  ratibusque  ministrant 
Incertasque  manus  ictu  languente  per  undas 
Exercent ;  nunc,  rara  datur  si  copia  ferri, 
Utuntur  pelago  :  saevus  conplectitur  hostem 
Hostis,  et  inplicitis  gaudent  subsidere  membris  695 

Mergentesque  mori.     Pugna  fuit  unus  in  ilia 
Eximius  Phoceus  animam  servare  sub  undis 
Scrutarique  fretum,  si  quid  mersisset  harcnis, 
Et  nimis  adfixos  unci  convellere  morsus, 
Adductum  quotiens  non  senserat  anchora  funem.       700 
Hie,  ubi  conprensum  penitus  deduxerat  hostem, 
Victor  et  incolumis  summas  remeabat  in  undas  ; 


1  The  blood  is  identified  with  the  vital  power :  cf.  iv.  286, 
287. 

2  The  epithet  has  never  been   explained :    the   sulphur  was 
smeared  on  the  top  of  torches. 

3  In  ancient  ships  wax  was  used  for  oakum,  to  caulk   the 
seams  of  the  deck  ;  comp.  x.  494. 

164 


BOOK    III 

a  missile,  plucked  forth  the  fatal  javelin  from  his 
own  wounds  and  clutched  his  vitals  with  the  left 
hand,  that  the  blood  might  have  time  to  deal  a  sturdy 
stroke^  and  hurl  back  the  enemy's  spear  before  it 
flowed  forth. 

In  that  sea  fight,  however,  no  plague  wrought 
more  destruction  than  the  element  most  hostile  to 
the  sea.  For  fire  spread  everywhere — fire  cleaving 
to  resinous  torches  and  kept  alive  by  hidden  ^ 
sulphur;  and  thereupon  the  ships,  quick  to  provide 
fuel,  caught  fire  at  once  with  their  pitch  or  melting 
wax. 3  Nor  did  the  waves  master  the  fire,  but  the 
flame  caught  fierce  hold  of  the  wrecks  now  scattered 
over  the  deep.  Some  let  in  the  sea,  to  put  out  the 
fire,  while  others  cling  to  blazing  planks,  for  fear 
they  drown ;  among  a  thousand  forms  of  death, 
men  fear  one  only — ^that  in  which  death  first  ap- 
proaches them.  Even  in  shipwreck  brave  men  are 
brave  still :  they  pick  up  weapons  thrown  down 
into  the  sea  and  hand  them  to  the  crews,  or  deal 
feeble  blows  with  erring  aim  from  the  water. 
Some,  when  other  weapons  fail,  make  the  sea  their 
weapon  :  foe  grapples  fiercely  with  foe,  glad  to  sink 
with  limbs  locked  together  and  to  drown  while 
drowning  another.  One  of  the  combatants  was 
Phoceus  ;  *  better  than  all  other  men  could  he  hold 
his  breath  under  water,  and  search  the  deep  for  aught 
which  its  sands  had  swallowed  ;  or,  when  the  anchor 
would  not  answer  the  tug  of  the  cable,  he  could 
wrench  away  the  flukes  that  had  bitten  too  deep. 
He  had  grappled  with  a  foe  and  carried  him  deep 
down,  and  now  was  returning  to  the  surface  alive 

•  This  may  be  a  proper  name ;  or  it  may  stand  for 
Phocaicus,  "a  man  of  Marseilles.'* 

>65 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Sed  se  per  vacuos  credit  dum  surgere  fluctus, 
Puppibus  occurrit  tandemque  sub  aequore  mansit. 
Hi  super  hostiles  iecerunt  bracchia  remos  705 

Et  ratium  tenuere  fugam.     Non  perdere  letum 
Maxima  cura  fuit :  multus  sua  volnera  puppi 
Adfixit  moriens  et  rostris  abstulit  ictus. 

Stan  tern  sublimi  Tyrrheiium  culmine  prorae 
Lygdamus,  excussae  Balearis  tortor  habenae,  710 

Glande  petens  solido  fregit  cava  tempora  plumbo. 
Sedibus  expulsi,  postquam  cruor  omnia  rupit 
Vincula,  procurrunt  oculi,  stat  lumine  rapto 
Attonitus  mortisque  illas  putat  esse  tenebras. 
At  postquam  membris  sensit  constare  vigorem,  715 

"  Vos/'  ait  "  o  socii,  sicut  tormenta  soletis. 
Me  quoque  mittendis  rectum  conponite  telis. 
Egere,  quod  superest  animae,  Tyrrhene,  per  omnes 
Bellorum  casus.     Ingentem  militis  usum 
Hoc  habet  ex  magna  defunctum  parte  cadaver  :  720 

Viventis  feriere  loco."     Sic  fatus  in  hostem 
Caeca  tela  manu,  sed  non  tamen  inrita,  mittit. 
Excipit  haec  iuvenis  generosi  sanguinis  Argus, 
Qua  iam  non  medius  descendit  in  ilia  venter, 
Adiuvitque  suo  procumbens  pondere  ferrum.  725 

Stabat  di versa  victae  iam  parte  carinae 
Infelix  Argi  genitor,  non  ille  iuventae 
Tempore  Phocaicis  ulli  cessurus  in  armis  ; 
Victum  aevo  robur  cecidit,  fessusque  senecta 
Exemplum,  non  miles  erat ;  qui  funere  viso  730 

i66 


BOOK   III 

and  victorious.  Fie  believed  he  was  rising  where 
the  sea  was  open  ;  but  he  struck  a  ship's  bottom  and 
never  rose  again.  Some  flung  their  arms  over 
enemy's  oars  and  checked  the  flight  of  their  vessels. 
Their  chief  anxiety  was  not  to  waste  their  deaths  : 
many  a  dying  man  prevented  an  enemy's  beak  from 
ramming  by  fastening  his  own  wounded  body  on 
the  stern  of  his  ship. 

Tyrrhenus  was  standing  on  the  lofty  bow  of  his 
ship,  when  Lygdamus,  a  wielder  of  the  Balearic 
thong,  aimed  a  bullet  and  slung  it ;  and  the  solid 
lead  crushed  his  hollow  temples.  The  blood  burst 
all  the  ligaments,  and  the  eyes,  forced  from  their 
sockets,  rushed  forth.  Tyrrhenus  stood  amazed  by 
his  sudden  blindness,  believing  that  this  was  the 
darkness  of  death.  But  when  he  felt  that  his  limbs 
retained  their  strength,  he  called  to  his  companions : 
"  As  you  are  wont  to  place  your  engines,  so  place 
me  too  in  the  right  position  for  hurling  darts. 
Tyrrhenus  must  spend  what  remains  of  life  in  every 
hazard  of  war.  This  body,  half  dead  already,  can 
play  a  soldier's  part  nobly  :  I  shall  be  slain  in  place 
of  a  living  man."  With  these  words  he  launched  at 
the  foe  a  dart  which,  though  no  eye  guided  it,  was 
not  launched  in  vain.  It  struck  Argus,  a  youth  of 
noble  race,  just  where  the  lower  part  of  the  belly 
meets  the  groin,  and  falling  forward  he  drove  the 
steel  deeper  with  his  own  weight.  At  the  other 
end  of  the  ship,  which  was  now  past  fighting,  stood 
the  unhappy  father  of  Argus.  In  his  prime  he 
would  have  matched  any  man  of  the  Phocaean 
army,  but  conquering  age  had  brought  low  his 
strength,  and  the  feeble  old  man  could  not  fight  but 
could  show  the  way  to  others.     When  he  saw  the 

167 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS  .1 

Saepe  cadens  longae  senior  per  transtra  carinae 

Pervenit  ad  puppim  spirantesque  invenit  artus. 

Non  lacrimae  cecidere  genis,  non  pectora  tundit, 

Distentis  toto  riguit  sed  corpore  palmis. 

Nox  subit  atque  oculos  vastae  obduxere  tenebrae,      735 

Et  miseriim  cernens  agnoscere  desinit  Arguni. 

lUe  caput  labens  et  iam  languentia  eolla 

Viso  patre  levat ;  vox  fauces  nulla  solutas 

Prosequitur,  tacito  tantum  petit  oscula  voitu 

Invitatque  patris  claudenda  ad  luraina  dextram.  740 

Ut  torpore  senex  caruit  viresque  cruentus 

Coepit  habere  dolor,  "  Non  perdam  tempora  "  dixit 

^'  A  saevis  permissa  deis,  iugulumque  senilem 

Confodiam.     Veniam  misero  concede  parenti, 

Arge,  quod  amplexus,  extrema  quod  oscula  fugi.         745 

Nondum  destituit  calidus  tua  volnera  sanguis, 

Semianimisque  iaces  et  adhuc  potes  esse  superstes." 

Sic  fatus,  quamvis  capulum  per  viscera  missi 

Polluerat  gladii,  tamen  alta  sub  aequora  tendit 

Praecipiti  saltu  :  letum  praecedere  nati  750 

Festinantem  animam  morti  non  credidit  uni. 

Inclinant  iam  fata  ducum,  nee  iam  amplius  anceps 
Belli  casus  erat.     Graiae  pars  maxima  classis 
Mergitur,  ast  aliae  mutato  remige  puppes 
Victores  vexere  suos  ;  navalia  paucae  755 

Praecipiti  tenuere  fuga.     Quis  in  urbe  parentum 
Fletus  erat !  quanti  matrum  per  litora  planctus! 
Coniunx  saepe  sui  confusis  voltibus  unda 

1 68 


BOOK   III 

deadly  wound,  he  made  his  way  with  many  a  stumble 
along  the  ship  and  past  the  benches,  and  found  the 
body  at  the  stern  still  breathing.  No  tears  fell  from 
his  cheeks,  no  blows  on  his  breast,  but  his  hands 
flew  wide  apart  and  all  his  body  became  rigid. 
Night  came  over  him,  and  thick  darkness  veiled  his 
eyes;  he  ceased  to  recognise  the  hapless  figure  of 
Argus  before  him.  At  sight  of  his  father  the  son 
raised  his  sinking  head  and  failing  neck ;  no  words 
followed  the  unlocking  of  his  throat :  he  could  only 
ask  a  kiss  with  silent  look  and  beg  that  his  father's 
hand  might  close  his  eyes.  When  the  old  man 
recovered  from  his  swoon,  and  cruel  grief  began  to 
assert  its  power,  "  I  will  not  waste,"  he  cried,  "the 
respite  granted  by  the  ruthless  gods,  but  will  use  it 
to  pierce  this  aged  throat.  Ar/^us,  forgive  your 
wretched  father  for  refusing  your  last  embrace  and 
your  parting  kiss.  The  warm  blood  has  not  yet 
ebbed  from  your  wounds  and  you  lie  there  still 
breathing ;  it  is  still  possible  for  you  to  survive  me." 
Thus  he  spoke,  and  not  content  with  driving  his 
sword  through  his  body  till  the  hilt  was  stained,  he 
sprang  headlong  into  the  deep,  so  eager  to  die  before 
his  son  that  he  would  not  trust  to  a  single  form  of 
death. 

The  fortunes  of  the  leaders  were  no  longer  evenly 
balanced,  and  the  issue  of  the  fight  was  no  longer 
doubtful.  Of  the  Greek  ships  most  were  sunk, 
others  with  changed  crews  now  carried  their  con- 
querors, and  only  a  few  gained  the  dockyards  by 
nasty  flight.  What  tears  were  shed  by  parents  in 
the  city !  how  loud  was  the  lamentation  of  mothers 
along  the  shore  I  Many  a  wife  clasped  a  Roman 
corpse,  mistaking  the  face,  with  features  disfigured 

169 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Credidit  ora  viri  Romanum  amplexa  cadaver, 
Accensisque  rogis  miseri  de  corpora  trunco  760 

Certavere  patres.     At  Brutus  in  aequore  victor 
Primus  Caesareis  pelagi  decus  addidit  armis. 


TJO 


BOOK    III 

by  the  sea,  for  her  husband's ;  beside  lighted  pyres 
hapless  father  strove  with  father  for  possession  of 
a  headless  body.  On  the  other  side,  Brutus  by  his 
victory  at  sea  first  conferred  naval  glory  on  Caesar's 
arms.^ 

1  Lucan   strangely  omits  to   mention   that  Massilia  was 
taken  by  Caesar's  forces. 


V 


BOOK   IV 


LIBER   QUARTUS 

At  procul  extremis  terrarum  Caesar  in  oris 

Martem  saevus  agit  non  multa  caede  nocentem. 

Maxima  sed  fati  ducibus  momenta  daturum. 

lure  pari  rector  castris  Afranius  illis 

Ac  Petreius  erat ;  concordia  duxit  in  aequas  5 

Imperium  commune  vices,  tutelaque  valli 

Pervigil  alterno  paret  custodia  signo. 

His  praeter  Latias  acies  erat  inpiger  Astur 

Vettonesque  leves  profugique  a  gente  vetusta 

Gallorum  Celtae  miscentes  nomen  Hiberis.  10 

Colle  tumet  modico  lenique  excrevit  in  altum 
Fingue  solum  tumulo  ;  super  hunc  fundata  vetusta 
Surgit  Ilerda  manu  ;  placidis  praelabitur  undis 
Hesperios  inter  Sicoris  non  ultimus  amnes, 
Saxeus  ingenti  quem  pons  amplectitur  arcu  15 

Hibernas  passurus  aquas.     At  proxima  rupes 
Signa  tenet  Magni ;  nee  Caesar  colle  minora 
Castra  levat ;  medius  dirimit  tentoria  gurges. 
Explicat  bine  tellus  campos  efFusa  patentes 
Vix  oculo  prendente  modum,  camposque  coerces,         20 
Cinga  rapax,  vetitus  fluctus  et  litora  cursu 
Oceani  pepulisse  tuo  ;  nam  gurglte  mixto 
Qui  praestat  terris  aufert  tibi  nomen  Hiberus. 


*  A  common  deseription  of  Spain  in  Lucan. 

2  Pompey's  army  of  veterans. 

^  Celtiberian  was  the  compound  name. 

174 


BOOK   IV 

But  far  away,  in  the  outermost  region  of  earth,'^ 
Caesar  fiercely  carried  on  war — war  not  guilty  of 
much  bloodshed,  but  destined  to  turn  decisively  the 
scales  of  fate  for  the  rival  leaders.  Afranius 
and  Petreius  ruled  the  army  ^  in  Spain  with  equal 
authority :  united  in  heart,  they  shared  their  com- 
mand equally  and  in  turn,  and  the  watchful  guard 
that  kept  the  rampart  safe  obeyed  the  watchword 
of  each  in  turn.  Besides  Roman  soldiers  they  had 
active  Asturians  and  nimble  Vettones,  and  Celts, 
emigrants  from  an  ancient  tribe  of  Gaul,  who  added 
their  own  name  to  that  of  the  Hiberians.^ 

The  fertile  land  rises  in  a  hill  of  moderate  height 
and  ascends  with  easy  slope ;  and  on  this  stands 
Ilerda,  founded  by  hands  of  old.  The  Sicoris,  not 
least  among  western  rivers,  flows  by  with  quiet 
waters;  and  a  stone  bridge,  fit  to  withstand  the 
winter  floods,  spans  the  river  with  mighty  arch.  A 
steep  hill  close  by  was  occupied  by  the  army  of 
Magnus;  and  Caesar  pitched  his  camp  aloft  on 
another  hill  as  high ;  the  river  flowed  between  and 
divided  the  camps.  Beyond,  the  level  land  spreads 
out  in  plains  whose  limit  the  eye  can  scarce  em- 
brace ;  but  the  rushing  Cinga  bounds  the  plains — 
Cinga,  whose  own  swift  waters  may  never  smite  the 
shore  and  the  sea ;  for  the  Hiberus,  which  gives  its 
name  to  the  country,  mixes  its  flood  with  the  Cinga 
and  steals  its  name  from  it. 

175 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Prima  dies  belli  cessavit  Marte  cruento 
Spectandasque  ducum  vires  numerosaque  signa  26 

Exposuit.     Piguit  sceleris  ;  pudor  arma  furentum 
Continuit,  patriaeque  et  ruptis  legibus  unum 
Donavere  diem  ;  prono  cum  Caesar  Olympo 
In  noctem  subita  circumdedit  agmina  fossa, 
Dum  primae  perstant  acies,  hostemque  fefellit  30 

Et  prope  consertis  obduxit  castra  maniplis. 
Luce  nova  collem  subito  conscendere  cursu. 
Qui  medius  tutam  castris  dirimebat  Ilerdam, 
Imperat.     Hue  hostem  pariter  terrorque  pudorque 
Inpulit,  et  rapto  turaulum  prior  agmine  cepit.  35 

His  virtus  ferrumque  locum  promittit,  at  illis 
Ipse  locus.     Miles  rupes  oneratus  in  altas 
Nititur,  adversoque  acies  in  monte  supina 
Haeret  et  in  tergum  casura  umbone  sequentis 
Erigitur.     Nulli  telum  vibrare  vacavit,  40 

Dum  labat  et  fixo  firmat  vestigia  pilo, 
Dum  scopulos  stirpesque  tenent  atque  hoste  relicto 
Oaedunt  ense  viam.     Vidit  lapsura  ruina 
Agmina  dux  equitemque  iubet  succedere  bello 
Munitumque  latus  laevo  praeducere  gyro.  45 

Sic  pedes  ex  facili  nulloque  urguente  receptus, 
Inritus  et  victor  subducto  Marte  pependit. 

Hactenus  armorum  discrimina ;  cetera  bello 
Fata  dedit  variis  incertus  motibus  aer. 


^  He  shifted  his  camp  to  a  site  nearer  the  enemy  and  concealed 
the  manoeuvre. 

"  I.e.  their  left  side. 

176 


BOOK   IV 

The  first  day  of  the  campaign  was  innocent  of 
bloodshed :  it  only  displayed  to  view  the  forces  of 
the  leaders  and  the  multitude  of  their  troops.  Men 
loathed  their  own  wickedness ;  shame  held  back 
the  weapons  of  their  frenzy,  and  they  granted  one 
day's  respite  to  their  country  and  the  laws  they  had 
l)roken.  But  when  the  sky  was  westering  towards 
night,  Caesar  surrounded  his  army  with  a  trench 
dug  in  haste,  while  his  front  rank  kept  their 
ground;  thus  he  deceived  the  enemy,  screening 
his  camp  with  a  line  of  troops  drawn  up  near  at 
hand.^  At  dawn  he  ordered  his  men  to  move  with 
speed  and  climb  the  hill,  which  lay  between  Ilerda 
and  the  camp  and  protected  the  town.  Fear  and 
shame  alike  drove  the  enemy  to  this  point :  with 
flying  march  they  reached  the  hill  first  and  occupied 
it.  Their  courage  and  their  swords  promised 
possession  of  the  ground  to  Caesar's  men ;  but  the 
foe  relied  on  actual  possession.  The  heavy-laden 
soldier  struggles  up  the  heights ;  the  line,  looking 
upward,  clings  to  the  mountain  before  it  and  is 
supported  from  falling  backwards  by  the  shields  of 
those  behind.  None  was  at  leisure  to  hurl  his 
weapon :  each  drives  in  his  javelin  to  assure  his 
slippery  foothold ;  they  clutch  at  rocks  and  trees ; 
they  pay  no  heed  to  the  enemy  but  hack  a  path 
with  their  swords.  Caesar  saw  that  his  ranks  would 
come  down  with  a  crash  ;  therefore  he  ordered  the 
cavalry  to  take  up  the  fighting  and  interpose  their 
shield-side  ^  by  a  left  wheel.  Thus  the  infantry  were 
easily  rescued,  and  none  pursued  them  ;  the  con- 
querors, when  their  antagonists  were  withdrawn, 
remained  on  the  hill,  but  had  gained  nothing. 

So  far  only  the  strife  of  arms  proceeded  :  the  rest 

177 

VOL.    I. 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pigro  bruma  gelu  siccisque  Aquilonibus  haerens 
Aethere  constricto  pluvias  in  nube  tenebat. 
Urebant  moritana  nives  camposque  iacentes 
Non  duraturae  conspecto  sole  pruinae, 
Atque  omnis  propior  mergenti  sidera  caelo 
Aruerat  tellus  hiberno  dura  sereno. 
Sed  postquam  vernus  calidum  Titana  recepit 
Sidera  respieiens  delapsae  portitor  Helles, 
Atque  iterum  aequatis  ad  iustae  pondera  Librae 
Temporibus  vicere  dies,  turn  sole  relicto 
Cynthia,  quo  primum  cornu  dubitanda  refulsit, 
Exclusit  Borean  flammasque  accepit  in  Euro. 
lUe,  suo  nubes  quascumque  invenit  in  axe, 
Torsit  in  occiduum  Nabataeis  flatibus  orbera, 
Et  quas  sentit  Arabs  et  quas  Gangetica  tellus 
Exhalat  nebulas,  quidquid  concrescere  primus 
Sol  patitur,  quidquid  caeli  fuscator  Eoi 
Inpulerat  Corus,  quidquid  defenderat  Indos. 
Incendere  diem  nubes  oriente  remotae 
Nee  medio  potuere  graves  incumbere  mundo 
Sed  nimbos  rapuere  fuga.     Vacat  imbribus  Arctos 
Et  Notus,  in  solam  Calpen  fluit  umidus  aer. 
Hie,  ubi  iam  Zephyri  fines,  et  summus  Olympi 
Cardo  tenet  Tethyn,  vetitae  transcurrere  densos 
Involvere  globos,  congestumque  aeris  atri 
Vix  recipit  spatium  quod  separat  aethere  terram. 


1  The  western  sky.  ^  Aries,  the  Ram. 

'  I.e.  after  the  vernal  equinox. 


178 


BOOK    IV 

of  the  campaign  was  decided  by  the  shifting  phases 
of  capricious  weatlier.  Winter,  congealed  with 
numbing  frost  and  dry  North  winds,  had  bound 
the  upper  air  and  penned  the  rain  in  the  clouds. 
The  mountains  were  nipped  by  snow,  and  the  low- 
lying  plains  by  hoar  frost  that  would  vanish  at  first 
sight  of  the  sun ;  and  all  the  earth,  near  that  part 
of  the  sky  which  dips  the  stars/  was  hard  and  dry 
owing  to  the  cloudless  winter  weather.  But  in 
spring  the  Carrier  2  who  let  Helle  fall  received  the 
burning  sun  and  looked  back  at  the  other  Signs ; 
and,  when  day  and  night  had  for  the  second  time 
been  made  equal  according  to  the  balance  of  un- 
erring Libra,  day  gained  the  victory.^  Then  the 
moon,  receding  from  the  sun,  with  that  crescent 
with  which  she  shone,  scarce  visible,  at  first,  barred 
the  North  wind  and  grew  bright  while  the  East 
wind  blew.  The  East  wind  drove  to  the  West  on 
blasts  from  Arabia  all  the  clouds  he  found  in  his 
own  clime,  all  the  mists  that  the  Arabs  feel  or 
the  land  of  the  Ganges  breathes  forth,  all  the 
moisture  that  the  Eastern  sun  suffers  to  collect,  all 
that  the  blast  which  darkens  the  Eastern  heavens 
had  driven  on,  and  all  that  had  screened  the 
Indians  from  the  sun.  Day  in  the  East  was  made 
hotter  by  the  removal  of  the  clouds — clouds  which 
could  not  deposit  their  heavy  burden  on  the  centre 
of  earth,  but  swept  the  storms  with  them  in  their 
flight.  North  and  South  were  rainless,  and  all  the 
moist  air  streamed  to  Calpe.  There,  where  the 
zephyrs  start  and  the  furthest  point  of  heaven  limits 
the  sea,  the  clouds,  forbidden  to  go  further,  rolled 
into  dense  round  masses ;  and  the  space  that  divides 
earth  from  heaven  could  scarce  contain  the  accumu- 

179 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Tamque  polo  pressae  largos  densantur  in  imbres 

Spissataeque  fluunt ;  nee  servant  fulmina  flammas 

Quamvis  crebra  micent :  exstinguunt  fulgura  nimbi. 

Hinc  inperfecto  conplectitur  aera  gyro 

Arcus,  vix  ulla  variatus  luce  colorem,  80 

Oceanumque  bibit  raptosque  ad  nubila  fluctus 

Pertulit  et  caelo  defusum  reddidit  aequor. 

lamque  Pyrenaeae,  quas  numquam  solvere  Titan 

Evaluit,  fluxere  nives,  fractoque  madescunt 

Saxa  gelu.     Turn,  quae  solitis  e  fontibus  exit,  85 

Non  habet  unda  vias  :  tarn  largas  alveus  omnis 

A  ripis  accepit  aquas.     lam  naufraga  eampo 

Caesaris  arma  natant,  inpulsaque  gurgite  multo 

Castra  labant ;  alto  restagnant  flumina  vallo. 

Non  pecorum  raptus  faciles,  non  pabula  niersi  9Q 

Ulla  ferunt  sulci ;  tectarum  errore  viaruni 

Fallitur  occultis  sparsus  populator  in  agris.         '   ^^^'^ 

lamque  comes  semper  magnorum  prima  malorum 

Saeva  fames  aderat,  nulloque  obsessus  ab  hoste 

Miles  eget ;  toto  censu  non  prodigus  emit  8d 

Exiguam  Cererem.      Pro  lucri  pallida  tabes  ! 

Non  dest  prolato  ieiunus  venditor  auro. 

lam  tumuli  collesque  latent,  iara  flumina  cuncta 

Condidit  una  palus  vastaque  voragine  mersit  : 

Absorpsit  penitus  rupes  ac  tecta  ferarum  100 

Detulit  atque  ipsas  hausit,  subitisque  frementes 

Vorticibus  contorsit  aquas  et  reppulit  aestus 


I  So 


BOOK   IV 

lation  of  dark  mist.  Next,  squeezed  against  the 
sky,  they  condense  into  al)undant  rain  and  flow 
along  thickened ;  thunderbolts  flashed  constantly 
but  could  not  keep  their  flame,  because  the  rain 
put  out  the  lightning.  Next,  the  rainbow  spanned 
the  sky  with  its  broken  arch,  while  hardly  any 
light  diversified  its  colours ;  it  drank  the  ocean, 
carried  up  the  waves  speedily  to  the  clouds,  and 
restored  the  water  that  had  poured  down  from  the 
sky.  Then  the  Pyrenean  snows,  which  no  sun  had 
ever  power  to  thaw,  were  melted,  the  ice  was 
broken  up,  and  the  clifFs  were  wetted.  Next,  no 
stream  that  issues  forth  from  its  normal  springs 
finds  a  fixed  path  :  such  a  flood  of  waters  poured 
into  every  channel  from  over  its  banks.  By  this 
time  Caesar's  army  was  shipwrecked  and  afloat  on 
land,  his  camp  fell  to  pieces  under  the  shock  of 
constant  floods,  and  the  rivers  formed  pools  witliin 
his  high  rampart.  To  carry  off  cattle  is  impossible ; 
the  submerged  furrows  produce  no  food  ;  the  spoilers, 
straggling  over  the  vanished  fields,  are  deceived  by 
missing  the  inundated  roads.  And  now  cruel  famine 
came — famine  that  is  ever  first  in  the  train  of  great 
disasters,  and  the  soldier  starves  while  no  foe  besets 
him :  though  no  spendthrift,  he  parted  with  all  his 
wealth  for  a  handful  of  grain.  Shame  on  the  pale 
plague  of  avarice!  When  gold  is  produced,  sellers 
are  forthcoming,  though  hungry  themselves.  By 
now  mounds  and  hills  are  hidden  ;  all  the  rivers  are 
buried  and  swallowed  up  in  the  huge  maw  of  a 
single  pool,  which  has  devoured  the  rocks  in  its 
depths,  and  carried  down  the  habitations  of  wild 
beasts,  and  engulfed  the  beasts  themselves  ;  with 
sudden  eddies  it  churns  up  its  roaring  waters  and 

i8i 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Forlior  Oceani.     Nee  Phoebum  surgere  sentit 

Nox  subtexta  polo  :  rerum  discrimina  miscet 

Deformis  caeli  facies  iunctaeque  tenebrae.  lOfi 

Sic  mundi  pars  ima  iacet,  quam  zona  nivalis 

Perpetuaeque  premunt  hiemes  :  non  sidera  caelo 

Ulla  videt,  sterili  non  quidquam  frigore  gignit, 

Sed  glacie  medios  signorum  temperat  ignes. 

Sic,  o  summe  parens  mundi,  sic,  sorte  secunda  IIC 

Aequorei  rector,  facias,  Neptune,  tridentis, 

Et  tu  perpetuis  inpendas  aera  nimbis, 

Tu  remeare  vetes,  quoscumque  emiseris,  aestus. 

Non  habeant  amnes  declivem  ad  litora  cursum 

Sed  pelagi  referantur  aquis,  concussaque  tellus  llf 

Laxet  iter  fluviis  :  hos  campos  Rhenus  inundet, 

Hos  Rliodanus,  vastos  obliquent  flumina  fontes. 

Riphaeas  hue  solve  nives,  hue  stagna  lacusque 

Et  pigras,  ubicumque  iacent,  effunde  paludes, 

Et  miseras  bellis  civilibus  eripe  terras.  12C 

Sed  parvo  Fortuna  viri  contenta  pavore 
Plena  redit,  solitoque  magis  favere  secundi 
Et  veniam  meruere  dei.     lam  rarior  aer 
Et  par  Phoebus  aquis  densas  in  vellera  nubes 
Sparserat,  et  noctes  ventura  luce  rubebant,  121 

Servatoque  loco  rerum  discessit  ab  astris 
Umor,  et  ima  petit,  quidquid  pendebat  aquarum. 
Tollere  silva  comas,  stagnis  emergere  colles 
Incipiunt,  visoque  die  durescere  valles. 

^rThe  Antarctic  region  is  meant. 
*  I.e.  next  in  power  to  Jupiter. 

182 


BOOK   IV 

drives  back  with  superior  strength  the  tides  of  ocean. 
Night,  curtaining  the  sky,  is  not  conscious  of  sun- 
rise ;  all  natural  distinctions  are  upset  by  the  hideous 
aspect  of  the  heaven  and  by  darkness  following  on 
night.  Such  is  the  region  that  lies  lowest  in  the 
world  ^  under  the  snowy  zone  and  perpetual  winter : 
no  stars  are  visible  there ;  its  barren  cold  can  pro- 
duce nothing,  but  its  ice  lessens  the  heat  of  the 
equatorial  Signs.  O  supreme  Father  of  the  universe, 
and  O  Neptune,  to  whom  the  second  lot^  gave  power 
over  the  trident  of  ocean,  be  such  your  will !  May 
the  one  god  devote  the  sky  to  perpetual  rain,  and 
the  other  prevent  every  tide  he  has  sent  forth  from 
ebbing  again  !  May  rivers  find  no  downward  passage 
to  the  shore  but  be  driven  back  by  the  waters  of 
the  sea !  May  the  earth  shake  and  enlarge  the 
path  of  the  rivers  !  May  the  Rhine  and  the  Rhone 
flood  the  fields  of  Spain  !  May  the  rivers  turn  aslant 
their  immense  springs !  Pour  hither  the  melted 
snows  of  the  Riphaean  mountains  and  the  water 
from  every  mere  and  lake  and  stagnant  marsh  in 
all  the  world,  and  snatch  away  this  hapless  land 
from  civil  war. 

But  now  Fortune,  contented  with  having  fright- 
ened her  favourite  a  little,  came  back  in  full  force  ; 
and  the  gods  earned  pardon  by  an  exceptional 
exercise  of  their  support.  By  this  time  the  sky 
had  cleared ;  the  sun,  a  match  for  the  waters,  had 
broken  up  the  thick  clouds  into  fleeces ;  and  the 
nights  grew  red  as  dawn  came  on.  The  elements 
took  up  their  proper  station :  the  moisture  left  the 
firmament,  and  all  the  waters  that  were  overhead 
took  the  lowest  room.  Trees  began  to  lift  their 
foliage,  hills  to  rise  above  the  floods,  and  valleys  to 

183 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Utque  habuit  ripas  Sicoris  camposque  reliquit,  130 

Primum  cana  salix  madefacto  vimine  parvam 

Texitur  in  puppim  caesoque  inducta  iuvenco 

Vectoris  patiens  tumidum  super  emicat  amnem. 

Sic  Venetus  stagnante  Pado  fusoque  Britannus 

Navigat  Oceano  ;  sic^  cum  tenet  omnia  Nil  us,  135 

Conseritur  bibula  Memphitis  cumba  papyro. 

His  ratibus  traiecta  manus  festinat  utrimque 

Succisum  curvare  nemus^  fluviique  ferocis 

Incrementa  timens  non  primis  robora  ripis 

Inposuit,  medios  pontem  distendit  in  agros.  140 

Ac,  ne  quid  Sicoris  repetitis  audeat  undis, 

Spargitur  in  sulcos  et  scisso  gurgite  rivis 

Dat  poenas  maioris  aquae.     Postquam  omnia  fatis 

Caesaris  ire  videt,  celsam  Petreius  Ilerd.im 

Deserit  et  noti  diffisus  viribus  orbis  14fi 

Indomitos  quaerit  populos  et  semper  in  arma 

Mortis  amore  feros,  et  tendit  in  ultima  mundi, 

Nudatos  Caesar  colles  desertaque  castra 
Conspiciens  capere  arma  iubet  nee  quaerere  pontem 
Nee  vada,  sed  duris  fluvium  superare  lacertis.  160 

Paretur,  rapuitque  ruens  in  proelia  miles 
Quod  fugiens  timuisset  iter.     Mox  uda  receptis 
Membra  fovent  armis  gelidosque  a  gurgite  cursu 
Restituunt  artus,  donee  decresceret  umbra 


^  By  this  is  meant  centrals  Spain. 
184 


BOOK   IV 

grow  solid  at  the  sight  of  sunlight.  And  as  soon 
as  the  Sicoris  left  the  plains  and  had  banks  again, 
osiers  of  hoary  willow  were  steeped  and  plaited  to 
form  small  boats,  which,  when  covered  with  the 
skin  of  a  slain  ox,  carried  passengers  and  rode  high 
over  the  swollen  river.  In  such  craft  the  Venetian 
navigates  the  flooded  Po,  and  the  Briton  his  wide 
Ocean ;  and  so,  when  Nile  covers  the  land,  the 
boats  of  Memphis  are  framed  of  thirsty  papyrus. 
In  these  boats  Caesar's  soldiers  were  ferried  over; 
in  haste  they  began  to  cut  down  trees  and  form 
them  into  an  arch  on  both  banks ;  but,  fearing  a 
spate  of  the  headstrong  river,  instead  of  placing  their 
wooden  bridge  close  by  the  margin,  they  carried  it 
far  into  the  fields.  Also,  that  the  Sicoris  might 
never  again  wax  bold  with  a  renewal  of  its  flood,  it 
was  divided  into  channels  and  punished  for  its  over- 
flow by  having  its  waters  split  up  into  canals. 
When  Petreius  saw  that  Caesar's  destiny  was 
carrying  all  before  it,  he  left  Ilerda  on  the  hill : 
distrusting  the  resources  of  the  known  world,  he 
sought  untamed  peoples,  whom  contempt  of  death 
makes  ever  eager  for  battle ;  and  he  moved  on 
towards  the  world's  end.^ 

When  Caesar  saw  the  hills  bare  and  the  camp 
deserted,  he  bade  his  men  arm  and  cross  the  river 
by  hard  swimming,  without  looking  for  either  bridge 
or  ford ;  and  they  obeyed.  The  soldier,  when 
rushing  into  battle,  was  eager  for  the  passage  which 
he  would  have  feared  if  retreating.  Soon  they  put 
on  their  arms  again  and  dry  their  limbs;  they 
march  in  haste  to  warm  their  frames  chilled  from 
the  river,  until  the  shadows  grow  shorter  as  day 
rises  to   its   height.     And    now   the   cavalry   were 

I8S 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

In  medium  surgente  die  ;  iamque  agmina  summa       156 
Carpit  eques,  dubiique  fugae  pugnaeque  tenentur. 

AttoUunt  campo  geminae  iuga  saxea  rupes 
Valle  cava  media ;  tellus  hinc  ardua  celsos 
Continuat  colles^  tutae  quos  inter  opaco 
Anfractu  latuere  viae  ;  quibus  hoste  potito  160 

Faueibus  emitti  terrarum  in  devia  Martem 
Inque  feras  gentes  Caesar  videt.     ''  Ite  sine  ullo 
Ordine  "  ait  "raptumque  fuga  convertite  bellum 
Et  faciem  pugnae  voltusque  inferte  minaces ; 
Nee  liceat  pavidis  ignava  occumbere  morte  :  166 

Excipiant  recto  fugientes  pectore  ferrum." 
Dixit  et  ad  montes  tendentem  praevenit  hostem. 
Illic  exiguo  paulum  distantia  vallo 
Castra  locant.     Postquam  spatio  languentia  nullo 
Mutua  conspicuos  habuerunt  lumina  voltus,  170 

[Hie  fratres  natosque  suos  videre  patresque,]  ^ 
Deprensum  est  civile  nefas.     Tenuere  parumper 
Ora  metu,  tantum  nutu  motoque  salutant 
Ense  suos.     Mox,  ut  stimulis  maioribus  ardens 
Rupit  amor  leges,  audet  transcendere  vallum  175 

Miles,  in  amplexus  efFusas  tendere  palmas. 
Hospitis  ille  ciet  nomen,  vocat  ille  propinqiium, 
Admonet  hunc  studiis  consors  puerilibus  aetas ; 
Nee  Romanus  erat,  qui  non  agnoverat  hostem. 
Arma  rigant  lacrimis,  singultibus  oscula  rumpunt,       180 
Et  quamvis  nullo  maculatus  sanguine  miles 

*  171  {Here  they  saw  their  brothers,  sons  and  fathers)  has  little 
MS.  authority  and  was  ejected  by  Oudendorp. 


*  I.e.  ** discipline." 
:86 


BOOK   IV 

harassing  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  who  were  held 
there,  doubting  whether  to  fight  or  flee. 

Two  cliffs  raised  their  rocky  ridges  on  the  plain, 
leaving  a  hollow  valley  between.  From  that  point 
the  earth  rises  into  a  continuous  range  of  lofty  hills, 
among  which  a  shadowed  winding  route  was  con- 
cealed and  offered  safety.  Caesar  saw  that  if  the 
enemy  reached  that  gorge,  the  war  would  slip  from 
his  hands  and  be  transferred  to  outlandish  regions 
and  savage  nations.  "  On  with  you,  without  keep- 
ing ranks,"  he  cried,  "  and  turn  back  the  war  which 
their  flight  has  stolen  from  you  ;  bring  against  them 
battle  array  and  menacing  countenances ;  frightened 
as  they  are,  let  them  die  no  coward's  death  but 
meet  the  sword  in  front,  even  while  they  flee." 
Thus  he  spoke  and  outstripped  the  enemy  as  they 
sought  to  gain  the  mountains.  There  the  two 
camps  with  low  ramparts  were  pitched  not  far 
apart.  When  their  eyes  met,  undimmed  by  distance, 
and  they  saw  each  other's  faces  clearly,  then  the 
horror  of  civil  war  was  unmasked.  For  a  short  time 
fear^  kept  them  silent,  and  they  greeted  their 
friends  only  by  nodding  their  heads  and  waving 
their  swords ;  but  soon,  when  warm  affection  burst 
the  bonds  of  discipline  with  stronger  motives,  the 
men  ventured  to  climb  over  the  palisade  and  stretch 
out  eager  hands  for  embraces.  One  hails  a  friend 
by  name,  another  accosts  a  kinsman;  the  time 
spent  in  the  same  boyish  pursuits  recalls  a  face  to 
memory;  and  he  who  had  found  no  acquaintance 
among  the  foe  was  no  true  Koman.  They  be- 
sprinkle their  weapons  with  tears ;  sobs  interrupt 
their  embraces ;  though  stained  by  no  bloodshed, 
they  dread  the  deeds  they  might  have  done  already. 

187 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Quae  potuit  fecisse  timet.     Quid  pectora  pulsas  ? 

Quid,  vaesane,  gemis?  fletus  quid  fundis  inanes 

Nee  te  sponte  tua  sceleri  parere  fateris  ? 

Usque  adeone  times,  quern  tu  facis  ipse  timendum?  186 

Classica  det  bello,  saevos  tu  neglege  cantus ; 

Signa  ferat,  cessa :  lam  iam  civilis  Erinys 

Concidet,  et  Caesar  generum  privatus  amabit. 

Nunc  ades,  aeterno  conplectens  omnia  nexu, 
O  rerum  mixtique  salus  Concordia  mundi  19C 

Et  sacer  orbis  amor ;  magnum  nunc  saecula  nostra 
Venturi  discrimen  habent.      Periere  latebrae 
Tot  scelerum,  populo  venia  est  erepta  nocenti : 
Agnovere  suos.     Pro  numine  fata  sinistro 
Exigua  requie  tantas  augentia  clades  !  19< 

Pax  erat,  et  miles  castris  permixtus  utrisque 
Errabat ;  duro  concorjdes  caespite  mensas  ; 

Instituunt  et  permixto  libamina  Baccho ; 
Graminei  luxere  foci,  iunctoque  cubili 
Extrahit  insomnes  bellorum  fabula  noctes,  20C 

Quo  primum  steterint  campo,  qua  lancea  dextra 
Exierit.     Dum  quae  gesserunt  fortia  iactant 
Et  dum  multa  iiegant,  quod  solum  fata  petebant, 
Est  miseris  renovata  fides,  atque  omne  futurum 
Crevit  amore  nefas.     Nam  postquam  foedera  pacis     20fi 
Cognita  Petreio  seque  et  sua  tradita  venum 
Castra  videt,  famulas  scelerata  ad  proelia  dextras 
1 88 


BOOK    IV 

Fool !  why  beat  your  breast  and  groan  and  shed 
unavailing  tears  ?  Why  not  confess  that  you  obey 
the  command  of  crime  by  your  own  will?  Do  you 
dread  so  greatly  the  leader  whom  you  alone  make 
dreadful  ?  If  he  sound  the  bugle  for  war,  be  deaf 
to  its  cruel  note ;  if  he  advance  his  standards, 
stay  still.  Then  in  a  moment  the  frenzy  of  civil 
war  will  collapse,  and  Caesar,  in  private  station,  will 
be  friends  with  his  daughter's  husband. 

Be  present  now,  tliou  that  embracest  all  things  in 
an  eternal  bond.  Harmony,  the  preserver  of  the 
world  and  the  blended  universe !  Be  present,  thou 
hallowed  Love  that  unitest  the  world !  For  at 
this  moment  our  age  can  exercise  a  mighty  influence 
upon  the  future.  The  disguise  of  all  that  wicked- 
ness has  been  torn  off,  and  a  guilty  nation  has  been 
robbed  of  all  excuse  :  the  men  have  recognised  their 
kinsmen.  A  curse  on  Fortune,  whose  malignant 
power  uses  a  brief  respite  to  make  great  calamities 
still  greater  I  There  was  peace,  and  the  men  made 
friends  and  strolled  about  in  either  camp ;  they 
began  friendly  meals  together  and  outpourings  of 
blended  wine,  sitting  on  the  hard  ground ;  the  fire 
burned  on  turf-built  hearths  ;  where  they  lay  side  by 
side,  tales  of  the  war  went  on  through  all  the  sleep- 
less night — on  what  field  they  first  fought,  by  what 
force  of  hand  their  javelin  was  launched.  But  while 
they  boast  of  their  brave  actions  and  deny  the  truth 
of  many  tales,  their  friendship,  alas  !  was  renewed, 
which  was  all  that  Fortune  desired,  and  all  their 
future  wickedness  was  made  worse  by  their  recon- 
ciliation.— For  when  Petreius  heard  of  the  peaceful 
compact  and  saw  that  he  and  his  forces  had  been 
sold,   he   armed   his   slaves    for   infamous   warfare. 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Excitat  atque  hostes  turba  stipatus  inermes 

Praecipitat  castris  iunctosque  amplexibus  ense 

Separat  et  multo  disturbat  sanguine  pacem.  210 

Addidit  ira  ferox  moturas  proelia  voces  : 

"  Inmemor  o  patriae,  signorura  oblite  tuorum, 

Non  potes  hoc  causae,  miles,  praestare,  senatus 

Adsertor  victo  redeas  ut  Caesare  ?  certe, 

Ut  vincare,  potes.     Dum  ferrum,  incertaque  fata,       216 

Quique  fluat  multo  non  derit  volnere  sanguis, 

Ibitis  ad  dominum  damnataque  signa  feretis, 

Utque  habeat  famulos  nuUo  discrimine  Caesar, 

Exorandus  erit  ?  ducibus  quoque  vita  petita  est  ? 

Numquam  nostra  salus  pretinm  mercesque  nefandae    220 

Proditionis  erit ;  non  hoc  civilia  bella, 

Ut  vivamus,  agunt.     Trahimur  sub  nomine  pacis. 

Non  chalybem  gentes  penitus  fugiente  metallo 

Eruerent,  nulli  vallarent  oppida  muri, 

Non  sonipes  in  bella  ferox,  non  iret  in  aequor  226 

Turrigeras  classis  pelago  sparsura  carinas. 

Si  bene  libertas  umquam  pro  pace  daretur. 

Hostes  nempe  meos  sceleri  iurata  nefando 

Sacramenta  tenent ;  at  vobis  vilior  hoc  est 

Vestra  fides,  quod  pro  causa  pugnantibus  aequa  230 

Et  veniam  sperare  licet.     Pro  dira  pudoris 

Funera  !  nunc  toto  fatorum  ignarus  in  orbe, 

Magne,  paras  acies  mundique  extrema  tenentes 

Sollicitas  reges,  cum  forsan  foedere  nostro 

lam  tibi  sit  promissa  salus."     Sic  fatur  et  omnes        235 

190 


BOOK    IV 

Surrounded  by  this  band,  he  hurled  the  unarmed 
enemy  out  of  the  camp,  separated  the  embrace  of 
friends  by  the  sword,  and  sliattered  the  peace  with 
much  shedding  of  blood.  His  fierce  anger  prompted 
speech  that  was  sure  to  provoke  a  fray :  "  Soldiers, 
regardless  of  your  country  and  forgetful  of  your 
standards,  if  you  cannot,  in  the  cause  of  the  Senate, 
conquer  Caesar  and  return  as  liberators,  you  can  at 
least  be  conquered  for  their  sake.  While  your 
swords  are  left  and  the  future  is  uncertain,  and 
while  you  have  blood  enough  to  flow  from  many  a 
wound,  will  you  go  over  to  a  master  and  carry  the 
standards  which  you  once  condemned }  Must 
Caesar  be  implored  to  treat  you  no  worse  than  his 
other  slaves .''  Have  you  begged  quarter  for  your 
generals  also.?  Never  shall  our  lives  be  the  price 
and  wages  of  foul  treason.  Our  life  is  not  the 
object  of  civil  war.  Undej  a  pretence  of  peace  we 
are  dragged  into  captivity.  Men  would  not  dig  out 
iron  in  the  deep-burrowing  mine,  cities  would  not  be 
fortified  with  walls,  the  spirited  charger  would  not 
rush  to  battle,  nor  the  fleet  be  launched  to  send 
turreted  ships  all  over  the  sea,  if  it  were  ever  right 
to  barter  freedom  for  peace.  My  foes,  it  seems,  are 
true  to  the  oath  they  swore — an  oath  which  binds 
them  to  crime  unspeakable ;  but  you  hold  your 
allegiance  cheaper,  because  you  are  fighting  for  a 
righteous  cause  and  may  therefore  hope  even  for — 
pardon  !  Alas  !  that  Honour  should  die  so  foul  a 
death.  At  this  moment  Magnus,  ignorant  of  his 
fate,  is  raising  armies  all  over  the  world  and  rousing 
up  kings  who  inhabit  the  ends  of  the  earth,  though 
perhaps  our  treaty  has  already  bargained  for  his 
mere  life." — His  words  worked  strongly  upon  every 

IQI 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Concussit  mentes  scelerumque  reduxit  amorem. 
Sic,  ubi  desuetae  silvis  in  carcere  cluso 
Mansuevere  ferae  et  voltus  posuere  minaces 
Atque  hominem  didicere  pati,  si  torrida  parvus 
Venit  in  ora  cruor,  redeunt  rabiesque  furorque,  240 

Admonitaeque  tument  gustato  sanguine  fauces ; 
Fervet  et  a  trepido  vix  abstinet  ira  magistro. 
Itur  in  omne  nefas,  et,  quae  Fortuna  deorum 
Invidia  caeca  bellorum  in  nocte  tulisset, 
Fecit  monstra  fides.     Inter  mensasque  torosque,         246 
Quae  modo  conplexu  foverunt,  pectora  caedunt; 
Et  quamvis  primo  ferrum  strinxere  gementes, 
Ut  dextrae  iusti  gladius  dissuasor  adhaesit, 
Dum  feriunt,  odere  suos  animosque  labantes 
Confirmant  ictu.     Fervent  iam  castra  tumultu,  250 

Ac  velut  occultum  pereat'scelus,  omnia  monstra 
In  facie  posuere  ducum  ;  iuvat  esse  nocentes. 
Tu,  Caesar,  quamvis  spoliatus  milite  multo, 
Agnoscis  superos  ;  neque  enim  tibi  maior  in  arvis       256 
Emathiis  fortuna  fuit  nee  Phocidos  undis 
Massiliae,  Phario  nee  tantum  est  aequore  gestum. 
Hoc  siquidem  solo  civilis  crimine  belli 
Dux  causae  melioris  eris.     Polluta  nefanda 
Agmina  caede  duces  iunctis  committere  castris  260 

Non  audent,  altaeque  ad  moenia  rursus  Ilerdae 
Intendere  fugam.      Campos  eques  obvius  omnes 
Abstulit  et  siccis  inclusit  collibus  hostem. 


1  At  the  battle  of  Pharsalia. 
8  Where  Pompey  was  killed. 


192 


BOOK   IV  ?^' 

heart  and  brought  back  the  love  of  crime.  So,  when 
wild  beasts  have  lost  the  habit  of  the  woods  and 
grown  tame  in  a  narrow  prison^  they  lose  their  grim 
aspect  and  learn  to  submit  to  man  ;  but,  if  a  drop  of 
blood  finds  its  way  to  their  thirsty  mouths,  their  rage 
and  fury  return,  and  their  throats,  reminded  of  their 
old  life  by  the  taste  of  blood,  swell  again  ;  their  anger 
boils  up  and  scarcely  spares  their  frightened  keeper. 
The  soldiers  proceed  to  every  crime  ;  and  horrors, 
which,  to  the  discredit  of  the  gods,  Fortune  might 
have  brought  about  in  the  blind  obscurity  of  battle, 
are  wrought  by  loyal  obedience.  Among  the 
tables  and  couches  they  pierce  the  very  breasts 
which  they  lately  embraced.  And  though  they 
groaned  at  first  when  baring  the  steel,  yet  when  the 
sword,  that  counsellor  of  evil,  clings  to  their  grasp, 
they  hate  the  friends  whom  they  strike,  and  their 
blows  confirm  their  wavering  purpose.  The  camp  now 
seethes  with  uproar ;  and,  as  if  a  secret  crime 
would  be  wasted,  they  set  every  horror  before  the 
eyes  of  their  commanders ;  they  glory  in  their 
guilt. 

Caesar,  though  robbed  of  many  soldiers,  recognised 
the  hand  of  heaven.  Never  indeed  was  he  more 
fortunate,  either  on  the  Emathian  plain  ^  or  on  the 
sea  of  Phocian  Massilia ;  nor  did  the  coast  of 
Egypt  2  witness  so  great  a  triumph,  inasmuch  as  he, 
thanks  to  this  one  crime  of  civil  war,  will  be 
henceforward  the  leader  of  the  better  cause.  The 
leaders  dared  not  entrust  their  troops,  stained  with 
hideous  bloodshed,  to  a  camp  near  Caesar's,  but 
directed  their  flight  back  to  the  walls  of  lofty  Ilerda. 
Caesar's  cavalry  met  them  and  drove  them  off  the 
plains  and  cooped  them  up  among  waterless  hills. 

193 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Tunc  inopes  undae  praerupta  cingere  fossa 
Caesar  a  vet  nee  castra  pati  contingere  ripas 
Aut  circum  largos  curvari  bracchia  fontes. 

Ut  leti  videre  viam,  conversus  in  iram 
Praecipitem  timor  est.     Miles  non  utile  clausis 
Auxilium  maetavit  equos,  tandemque  coactus 
Spe  posita  damnare  fugam  casurus  in  hostes 
Fertur.     Ut  efFuso  Caesar  decurrere  passu 
Vidit  et  ad  certam  devotos  tendere  mortem, 
"  Tela  tene  iam,  miles,"  ait  "  ferrumque  ruenti 
Subtrahe  :  non  ullo  eonstet  mihi  sanguine  bellum. 
Vincitur  baud  gratis,  iugulo  qui  provocat  hostem. 
En,  sibi  vilis  adest  invisa  luce  iuventus 
lam  damno  peritura  meo ;  non  sentiet  ictus, 
Incumbet  gladiis,  gaudebit  sanguine  fuso. 
Deserat  hie  fervor  mentes,  cadat  impetus  amens, 
Perdant  velle  mori."     Sic  deflagrare  minaces 
Incassum  et  vetito  passus  languescere  bello, 
Substituit  merso  dum  nox  sua  lumina  Phoebo. 
Inde,  ubi  nulla  data  est  miscendae  copia  mortis, 
Paulatim  fugit  ira  ferox  mentesque  tepescunt ; 
Saucia  maiores  animos  ut  pectora  gestant, 
Dum  dolor  est  ictusque  recens  et  mobile  nervis 
Conamen  calidus  praebet  cruor  ossaque  nondura 
Adduxere  cutem  :  si  conscius  ensis  adacti 
Stat  victor  tenuitque  manus,  turn  frigidus  artus 
Alligat  atque  animum  subducto  robore  torpor, 

*  A  gladiator  is  meant. 
194 


BOOK    IV 

Next  Caesar  eagerly  attempts  to  surround  them,  in 
their  lack  of  water,  with  a  steep  trench  ;  he  will  not 
suffer  their  camp  to  reach  the  river  banks  or  their 
outworks  to  enclose  abundant  springs. 

When  the  soldiers  saw  the  path  to  death  before 
them,  their  fear  was  changed  to  headlong  ardour. 
Having  slaughtered  their  horses,  as  powerless  to 
help  men  besieged,  they  were  forced  at  last  to 
abandon  hope  and  reject  flight,  and  rushed  upon  the 
foe  with  intent  to  perish.  When  Caesar  saw  the 
devoted  warriors  coming  on  at  full  speed  to  meet 
inevitable  death,  he  called  to  his  men,  ''  Hold  your 
weapons  for  a  time  and  withdraw  the  sword  from 
him  who  rushes  to  meet  it ;  no  lives  of  my  own  men 
must  be  lost  in  the  battle  ;  he  who  challenges  the 
foe  with  his  life  costs  his  victor  dear.  See  !  they 
come,  hating  life  and  holding  themselves  cheap,  and 
I  must  pay  for  their  deaths  :  insensible  to  wounds, 
they  will  fling  themselves  on  the  sword  and  rejoice 
to  shed  their  blood.  This  excitement  must  calm 
down ;  this  wild  enthusiasm  must  flag ;  they  must 
lose  their  wish  to  die."  So  by  refusing  battle  he 
suffered  their  threats  to  burn  down  to  nothing  and 
dwindle  away,  while  the  sun  set  and  night  replaced 
his  light  with  her  own.  Then,  when  no  chance  was 
given  them  to  kill  and  be  killed,  their  ardour  left 
them  by  degrees  and  their  minds  lost  heat.  So  a 
wounded  man  ^  has  higher  courage,  while  his  wound 
and  his  pain  are  fresh,  and  while  the  warm  blood 
lends  active  force  to  the  muscles,  and  before  the 
skin  has  shrunk  over  the  bones  ;  but,  if  the  con- 
queror, aware  that  his  sword  has  gone  home,  stands 
still  and  refrains  from  striking,  then  cold  numbness 
binds  both  mind  and  body  and  steals  strength  away, 

195 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Postquam  sicca  rigens  astrinxit  volnera  sanguis, 
lamque  inopes  undae  primum  tellure  refossa 
Occultos  latices  abstrusaque  flumina  quaerunt ; 
Nee  solum  rastris  durisque  ligonibus  arva 
Sed  gladiis  fodere  suis,  puteusque  cavati  295 

Montis  ad  inrigui  premitur  fastigia  campi. 
Non  se  tarn  penitus,  tarn  longe  luce  relicta 
Merserit  Astyrici  scrutator  pallidus  auri. 
Non  tamen  aut  tectis  sonuerunt  cursibus  amnes, 
Aut  micuere  novi  percusso  pumice  fontes,  300 

Antra  neque  exiguo  stillant  sudantia  rore, 
Aut  inpulsa  levi  turbatur  glarea  vena. 
Tunc  exhausta  super  multo  sudore  iuventus 
Extrahitur  duris  silicum  lassata  metallis ; 
Quoque  minus  possent  siccos  tolerare  vapores,  305 

Quaesitae  fecistis  aquae.      Nee  languida  fessi 
Corpora  sustentant  epulis,  mensasque  perosi 
Auxilium  fecere  famem.     Si  mollius  arvum 
Prodidit  umorem,  pingues  manus  utraque  glaebas 
Exprimit  ora  super  ;  nigro  si  turbida  limo  310 

Conluvies  inmota  iacet,  cadit  omnis  in  haustus 
Certatim  obscaenos  miles  moriensque  recepit 
Quas  nollet  victurus  aquas  ;  rituque  ferarum 
Distentas  siccant  pecudes,  et  lacte  negato 
Sordidus  exhausto  sorbetur  ab  ubere  sanguis.  315 

Tunc  herbas  frondesque  terunt  et  rore  madentes 
Destringunt  ramos  et  si  quos  pal  mite  crude 
Arboris  aut  tenera  sucos  pressere  medulla. 
O  fortunati,  fugiens  quos  barbarus  hostis 
Fontibus  inmixto  stravit  per  rura  veneno.  320 

Hos  licet  in  fluvios  saniem  tabemque  ferarum, 
196 


BOOK    IV 

after  the  congealing  blood  has  closed  the  drying 
wounds.  And  now,  in  their  shortage  of  water,  they 
begin  by  digging  in  search  of  hidden  springs  and 
underground  streams ;  as  well  as  iron  rakes  and  picks 
they  use  their  swords  to  pierce  the  soil ;  and  wells 
in  the  excavated  hillside  are  sunk  to  the  level  of 
the  watered  plain.  I'he  pale  searcher  after  Asturian 
gold  would  not  bury  himself  so  deep,  or  leave  day- 
light so  far  behind.  But  there  was  no  sound  of 
rivers  with  hidden  courses,  no  new  springs  gushed 
from  the  smitten  rock,  no  dripping  caves  oozed  forth 
a  scanty  moisture,  no  gravel  was  stirred  and  lifted 
even  by  a  slender  vein  of  water.  Then  the  men 
are  hauled  up  to  the  surface,  worn  out  with  heavy 
labour  and  wearied  by  mining  in  the  flint ;  and  their 
quest  for  water  has  made  them  less  able  to  endure 
the  drought  and  heat.  Nor  was  their  bodily  weak- 
ness and  weariness  supported  by  food  :  they  abhorred 
all  meat  and  called  in  hunger  to  help  them  against 
thirst.  Wherever  soft  soil  betrayed  moisture,  they 
squeezed  the  oozy  clods  over  their  mouths  with  both 
hands.  Where  pools  of  stagnant  filth  were  caked 
with  black  mire,  each  man  fell  down  eager  for  the 
foul  draught,  and  dying  swallowed  water  which,  with 
a  prospect  of  life,  he  would  have  refused ;  like  wild 
beasts  they  drained  the  swollen  udders  of  cattle, 
and,  if  milk  was  denied,  sucked  the  pallid  blood 
from  the  empty  teats.  Next,  they  pounded  grass 
and  leaves,  and  stripped  the  dew  off  branches,  and 
brushed  off  any  moisture  they  could  squeeze  from 
the  green  shoots  or  soft  pith  of  trees. 

Happy  are  those  whom  a  barbarian  foe,  as  he  fled, 
has  laid  low  upon  the  fields  by  mingling  poison  in  the 
springs.     Into  the  Spanish  rivers  Caesar  may  pour 

197 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pallida  Dictaeis,  Caesar,  nascentia  saxis 

Infundas  aconita  palam,  Romana  iuventus 

Non  decepta  bibet.     Torrentur  viscera  flamma, 

Oraque  sicca  rigent  squamosis  aspera  Unguis  ;  325 

lam  marcent  venae,  nuUoque  umore  rigatus 

Aeris  alternos  angustat  pulmo  meatus, 

Rescissoque  nocent  suspiria  dura  palato ; 

Pandunt  ora  tamen  nociturumque  ^  aera  captant. 

Expectant  imbres,  quorum  modo  cuncta  natabant       330 

Inpulsu,  et  siccis  voltus  in  nubibus  haerent. 

Quoque  magis  miseros  undae  ieiunia  solvant, 

Non  super  arentem  Meroen  Cancrique  sub  axe. 

Qua  nudi  Garamantes  arant,  sedere,  sed  inter 

Stagnantem  Sicorim  et  rapidum  deprensus  Hiberum  336 

Spectat  vicinos  sitiens  exercitus  amnes. 

lam  domiti  cessere  duces,  pacisque  petendae 
Auctor  damnatis  supplex  Afranius  armis 
Semianimes  in  castra  trahens  hostilia  turmas 
Victoris  stetit  ante  pedes.     Servata  precanti  340 

Maiestas  non  fracta  malis,  interque  priorem 
Fortunam  casusque  novos  gerit  omnia  victi, 
Sed  ducis,  et  veniam  securo  pectore  poscit : 
"  Si  me  degeneri  stravissent  fata  sub  hoste, 
Non  derat  fortis  rapiendo  dextera  leto.  346 

At  nunc  causa  mihi  est  orandae  sola  salutis, 
Dignum  donanda,  Caesar,  te  credere  vita. 
Non  partis  studiis  agimur  nee  sumpsimus  arma 

^  nociturum  Vorville  :  nocturnum  MSB, 
198 


BOOK    IV 

without  concealment  gore  and  the  carrion  of  wild 
beasts,  and  the  deadly  aconite  which  grows  on  the 
rocks  of  Crete ;  and  Roman  soldiers  will  drink  with 
their  eyes  open.  Their  inward  parts  are  burnt  with 
fire ;  their  mouths  are  dry  and  hard,  and  rough  with 
scaly  tongues ;  by  now  their  pulses  flag,  and  their  lungs, 
wetted  by  no  moisture,  choke  the  passage  of  air  to 
and  fro ;  and  their  difficult  breathing  is  painful  to 
their  cracked  palates ;  yet  still  they  open  their  mouths, 
eager  for  the  air  that  will  prove  their  bane.  They 
hope  for  rain — rain,  whose  downpour  lately  flooded 
all  the  land ;  and  they  fix  their  gaze  on  the  rainless 
clouds.  And,  that  the  water-famine  may  break 
them  down  still  more  in  their  misery,  their  camp  is 
not  pitched  beyond  burning  Meroe  and  beneath  the 
sign  of  Cancer,  where  the  naked  Garamantes  dwell ; 
but  the  army,  entrapped  between  the  brimming 
Sicoris  and  the  rapid  Hiberus,  can  see  the  rivers 
close  at  hand  while  dying  of  thirst. 

At  last  the  leaders  were  overcome  and  yielded  : 
Afranius  advised  that  terms  should  be  sought ; 
despairing  of  resistance,  he  took  with  him  squadrons 
of  half-dead  men  to  the  enemy's  camp,  and  stood  in 
supplication  before  the  conqueror's  feet.  The 
suppliant  maintained  his  dignity  unbroken  by 
disaster  ;  between  his  former  high  position  and  his 
recent  misfortune,  he  had  all  the  bearing  of  a 
general,  though  a  defeated  general,  and  he  asked 
pardon  with  a  mind  at  ease  :  "  Had  Fortune  laid  me 
low  beneath  an  unworthy  foeman,  my  own  strong 
arm  would  not  have  failed  to  snatch  death  by 
violence ;  as  it  is,  my  sole  reason  for  begging  life  is 
that  I  consider  you,  Caesar,  worthy  to  grant  it.  We 
are  not  moved  by  party  spirit ;  nor  did  we  take  up 

199 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Consiliis  inimica  tuis.     Nos  denique  bellum 
Invenit  civile  duces,  causaeque  priori,  350 

Diim  potuit,  servata  fides.     Nil  fata  moramur  : 
Tradimus  Hesperias  gentes,  aperimus  Eoas, 
Securumqiie  orbis  patimur  post  terga  relicti. 
Nee  cruor  effusus  campis  tibi  bella  peregit 
Nee  ferrum  lassaeque  manus  :  hoc  hostibus  unum,     355 
Quod  vincas,  ignosce  tuis.     Nee  magna  petuntur  : 
Otia  des  fessis,  vitam  patiaris  inermes 
Degere  quam  tribuis.     Campis  prostrata  iacere 
Agmina  nostra  putes ;  nee  enim  felicibus  armis 
Misceri  damnata  decet,  partemque  triumphi  360 

Captos  ferre  tui ;  turba  haec  sua  fata  peregit. 
Hoc  petimus,  victos  ne  tecum  vincere  cogas." 
Dixerat ;  at  Caesar  facilis  voltuque  serenus 
Fleetitur  atque  usus  belli  poenamque  remittit. 
Ut  primum  iustae  placuerunt  foedera  pacis,  366 

Incustoditos  decurrit  miles  ad  amiies, 
Incumbit  ripis  permissaque  flumina  turbat. 
Continuus  multis  subitarum  tractus  aquarum 
Aera  non  passus  vacuis  discurrere  venis 
Artavit  clausitque  animam  ;  nee  fervida  pestis  370 

Cedit  ad  hue,  sed  morbus  egens  iam  gurgite  plenis 
Visceribus  sibi  poscit  aquas.     Mox  robora  nervis 
Et  vires  rediere  viris.     O  prodiga  rerum 
Luxuries  numquam  parvo  con  ten  ta  paratis 


BOOK    IV 

arms  in  opposition  to  your  designs.  In  fact,  the 
civil  war  found  us  at  the  head  of  an  army  ;  and, 
while  we  could,  we  were  loyal  to  our  former  cause. 
We  make  no  attempt  to  hinder  destiny  ;  to  you  we 
surrender  the  nations  of  the  West  and  open  the  way 
to  the  East ;  we  enable  you  to  feel  no  anxiety  for 
the  region  you  leave  in  your  rear.  Your  victory  has 
not  been  gained  by  blood  poured  forth  upon  the 
plains,  nor  by  the  sword  plied  till  the  arm  was 
weary  ;  pardon  your  foes  their  one  crime — that  you 
are  victorious  over  us.  We  do  not  ask  much  :  only 
give  rest  to  the  weary,  and  suffer  those  to  whom  you 
grant  life  to  spend  it  unarmed.  Deem  that  our  ranks 
lie  prostrate  on  the  field  ;  for  captives  must  not  share 
in  your  triumph,  nor  warriors  condemned  by  fate  be 
mingled  with  conquerors  :  my  army  has  completed  its 
own  destiny.  This  we  beg — that  you  will  not 
compel  us  whom  you  have  conquered  to  conquer 
along  with  you." 

Thus  he  spoke ;  and  Caesar  readily  gave  way  with 
unclouded  brow ;  he  excused  them  from  service  in 
his  army  and  from  all  punishment.  As  soon  as  the 
treaty  of  peace  was  settled  in  due  form,  the  men 
rushed  down  to  the  unguarded  rivers,  lay  down  upon 
the  banks,  and  made  muddy  the  streams  thrown 
open  to  them.  While  they  gulped  down  the  water, 
the  uninterru})ted  draught  prevented  the  air  from 
passing  through  the  empty  arteries :  it  contracted 
and  blocked  the  windpipes  of  many ;  nor  does  the 
burning  plague  yet  abate,  but  the  craving  malady 
demands  yet  more  when  the  stomach  is  full  of 
water  already.  Soon  the  muscles  recovered  power, 
and  the  soldiers  grew  strong  again.  O  Luxury,  ex- 
travagant of  resources  and  never  satisfied  with  what 

aoi 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  quaesitorum  terra  pelagoque  ciborum  376 

Ambitiosa  fames  et  lautae  gloria  mensae, 

Discite,  quam  parvo  liceat  producere  vitam 

Et  quantum  natura  petat.     Non  erigit  aegros 

Nobilis  ignoto  diffusus  consule  Bacchus, 

Non  auro  murraque  bibunt,  sed  gurgite  puro  380 

Vita  redit.     Satis  est  populis  fluviusque  Ceresque. 

Heu  miseri,  qui  bella  gerunt  !    Tunc  arma  relinquens 
Victor!  miles  spoliato  pectore  tutus 
Innocuusque  suas  curarum  liber  in  urbes 
Spargitur.     O  quantum  donata  pace  potitos  385 

Excussis  umquam  ferrum  vibrasse  lacertis 
Paenituit,  tolerasse  sitim  frustraque  rogasse 
Prospera  bella  deos  !     Nempe  usis  Marte  secundo 
Tot  dubiae  restant  acies,  tot  in  orbe  labores ; 
Ut  numquam  fortuna  labet  successibus  anceps,  390 

Vincendum  totiens ;  terras  fundendus  in  omnes 
Est  cruor  et  Caesar  per  tot  sua  fata  sequendus. 
Felix,  qui  potuit  mundi  nutante  ruina 
Quo  iaceat  lam  scire  loco.     Non  proelia  fessos 
Ulla  vocant,  certos  non  rumpunt  classica  somnos.        395 
lam  coniunx  natique  rudes  et  sordida  tecta 
Et  non  deductos  recipit  sua  terra  colonos. 
Hoc  quoque  securis  oneris  fortuna  remisit, 
Sollicitus  menti  quod  abest  favor :  ille  salutis 
Est  auctor,  dux  ille  fuit     Sic  proelia  soli  400 

202 


BOOK   IV 

costs  little ;  and  ostentatious  hunger  for  dainties 
sought  over  land  and  sea;  and  ye  who  take  pride 
in  delicate  eating — hence  ye  may  learn  how  little 
it  costs  to  prolong  life,  and  how  little  nature  de- 
mands. No  famous  vintage,  bottled  in  the  year  of 
a  long  forgotten  consul,  restores  these  to  health ; 
they  drink  not  out  of  gold  or  agate,  but  gain  new 
life  from  pure  water ;  running  water  and  bread  are 
enough  for  mankind. 

Alas  for  those  who  still  fight  on !  These  men 
abandon  their  arms  to  the  conqueror ;  safe,  though 
they  are  stripped  of  their  breast-plates,  harmless 
and  free  from  care,  they  are  scattered  among  their 
native  cities.  Now  that  they  possess  the  gift  of 
peace,  how  much  they  regret  that  they  ever  hurled 
the  steel  with  vigorous  arms,  and  endured  thirst, 
and  prayed  mistakenly  to  the  gods  for  victory !  For 
the  victors,  it  is  sure,  so  many  doubtful  battles 
and  hardships  over  all  the  world  still  lie  ahead ; 
even  though  Fortune  never  fail — Fortune  fickle  in 
her  favours — still  they  must  conquer  again  and  again, 
and  shed  their  blood  on  every  land,  and  follow 
Caesar  through  all  his  chances  and  changes.  When 
the  whole  world  is  nodding  to  its  fall,  happy  the 
man  who  has  been  able  to  learn  already  the  lowly 
place  appointed  for  him.  No  battles  call  them  from 
where  they  rest ;  no  trumpet-call  breaks  their  sound 
slumbers.  They  are  welcomed  now  by  their  wives 
and  innocent  babes,  by  their  simple  dwellings  and 
their  native  soil,  nor  are  they  settled  there  as 
colonists.  Of  another  burden  too  Fortune  relieves 
them  :  their  minds  are  rid  of  the  trouble  of  partisan- 
ship ;  for,  if  Caesar  granted  them  their  lives,  Pompey 
was  once  their  leader.     Thus  they  alone  are  happy, 

203 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Felices  nullo  spectant  civilia  voto. 

Non  eadem  belli  totum  fortuna  per  orbem 
Constitit,  in  partes  aliquid  sed  Caesaris  ausa  est. 
Qua  maris  Hadriaci  longas  ferit  unda  Salonas 
Et  tepidum  in  molles  Zephyros  excurrit  lader,  406 

Illic  bellaci  confisus  gente  Curictum, 
Quos  alit  Hadriaco  tellus  circumflua  ponto, 
Clauditur  extrema  residens  Antonius  ora, 
Cautus  ab  incursu  belli,  si  sola  recedat, 
Expugnat  quae  tuta,  fames.      Non  pabula  tellus  4 

Pascendis  summittit  equis,  non  proserit  ullam 
Flava  Ceres  segetem  ;  spoliarat  ^  gramine  campum 
Miles  et  attonso  miseris  iam  dentibus  arvo 
Castrorum  siccas  de  caespite  volserat  herbas. 
Ut  primum  adversae  socios  in  litore  terrae  4 

Et  Basil  um  videre  ducem,  nova  furta  per  aequor 
Exquisita  fugae.      Neque  enim  de  more  carinas 
Extendunt  puppesque  levant,  sed  firma  gerendis 
Molibus  insolito  contexunt  robora  ductu. 
Namque  ratem  vacuae  sustentant  undique  cupae,       4 
Quarura  porrectis  series  constricta  catenis 
Ordinibus  geminis  obliquas  excipit  alnos ; 
Nee  gerit  expositum  telis  in  fronte  patenti 
Remigium,  sed,  quod  trabibus  circumdedit  aequor, 
Hoc  ferit  et  taciti  praebet  miracula  cursus,  425 

Quod  nee  vela  ferat  nee  apertas  verberet  undas. 

^  spoliarat  Quietus  :  spoliabat  MSS. 

^  The  town,  not  the  river,  of  that  name. 

*  Curicta  is  an  island  off  the  coast  of  Illyricum. 

3  C.  Antonius,  brother  of  the  triumvir,  commanded  a  body 

of    Caesar's    troops    on    the    island ;    Basilus    with    more    of 

204 


d  BOOK    IV 

looking  on  at  civil  war  with  no  prayer  for  the  success 
of  either. 

The  fortune  of  war  did  not  remain  unchanged  all 
the  world  over,  but  dared  to  strike  one  blow  against 
Caesar's  side.  Where  the  Adriatic  wave  beats  on 
the  straggling  town  of  Salonae,  and  where  mild 
lader^  runs  out  towards  the  soft  West  winds,  there 
Antonius,  trusting  in  the  warlike  race  of  the 
Curictae/  who  dwell  in  an  island  surrounded  by  the 

'  Adriatic  waters,  was  pent  up  within  his  camp  on 
the  edge  of  the  shore.  He  was  safe  against  armed 
attack,  if  only  he  could  keep  famine  at  bay — famine 
which  takes  the  impregnable  fortress.  The  earth 
sends  up  no  fodder  to  feed  his  horses ;  golden  Ceres 

I iputs  forth  no  corn  there ;  the  soldiers  had  robbed 
the  field  of  its  grass;  and,  when  they  had  nibbled 
the  blades  close  with  starving  teeth,  they  had  torn 
the  withered  tutXs  from  the  sods  that  formed  the 
camp.  As  soon  as  they  saw  a  friendly  force  com- 
manded by  Basilus  ^  on  the  mainland  opposite,  they 

^  devised  a  novel  plan  to  steal  in  flight  across  the 
deep.  They  built  no  long  hulls,  no  high  sterns,  as 
the  custom  is,  but  joined  stout  planks  together  on 
unwonted  lines  to  carry  heavy  structures.  This 
raft  rested  entirely  upon  empty  barrels,  a  succession 
K-.of  which,  lashed  together  in  double  rows  by  long 
chains,  supported  the  planks  laid  transversely  across 
them.  Nor  were  the  rowers  she  carried  exposed  to 
missiles  along  an  open  front ;  but  they  struck  the 
water  enclosed  by  the  timbers ;    and    the  raft  pre- 

ir-  sented  the  puzzle  of  mysterious  motion,  because  it 
carried  no  sail  and  did  not  thrash  the  waves  visibly. 

**'  Caesar's  men  was  at  some  point  on  the  mainland  ;  and  M. 
Octavius,  Pompey's  admiral,  held  the  coast. 

205 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Turn  freta  servantur,  dum  se  declivibus  undis 

Aestus  agat  refluoque  mari  nudentur  harenae. 

lamque  relabenti  crescebant  litora  ponto  : 

Missa  ratis  prono  defertur  lapsa  profundo  430 

Et  geminae  comites.     Cunctas  super  ardua  tiirris 

Eminet  et  tremulis  tabu  lata  minantia  pinnis. 

Noluit  Illyricae  custos  Octavius  undae 

Confestim  temptare  ratem,  celeresque  carinas 

Continuit,  cursu  crescat  dum  praeda  secundo,  435 

Et  temere  ingressos  repetendum  invitat  ad  aequor 

I'ace  maris.     Sic,  dum  pavidos  formidine  cervos 

C'laudat  odoratae  metuentes  aera  pinnae, 

Aut  dum  dispositis  attoUat  retia  varis, 

Venator  tenet  ora  levis  clamosa  Molossi,  440 

Spartanos  Cretasque  ligat,  nee  creditur  ulli 

Silva  cani,  nisi  qui  presso  vestigia  rostro 

Colligit  et  praeda  nescit  latrare  reperta, 

Contentus  tremulo  monstrasse  cubilia  loro. 

Nee  mora,  conplentur  moles,  avideque  petitis  446 

Insula   deseritur  ratibus,  quo  tempore  primas 

Inpedit  ad  noctem  iam  lux  extrema  tenebras. 

At  Pompeianus  fraudes  innectere  ponto 

Antiqua  parat  arte  Cilix,  passusque  vacare 

Summa  freti  medio  suspend  it  vincula  ponto  450 

Et  laxe  fluitare  sinit,  religatque  catenas 

Rupis  ab  Illyricae  scopulis.     Nee  prima  nee  illam 

Quae  sequitur  tardata  ratis,  sed  tertia  moles 

"^  formido,  "scare,"  was  the  name  given  to  an  arrangement 
of  coloured  feathers,  which  prevented  hunted  animals  from 
breaking  through. 

2o6 


BOOK   IV 

Next  they  watched  the  sea  till  the  time  when  the 
tide  should  move  with  downward-flowing  waters  and 
the  sand  be  left  bare  by  the  ebb.  So,  when  the  sea 
began  to  flow  back  and  the  shore  to  grow,  the  raft 
was  launched  and  sped  gliding  down  the  current, 
and  her  two  consorts  with  her.  High  above  each 
rose  a  tower  and  stages  that  threatened  with  nodding 
battlements.  Octavius,  who  guarded  the  Illyrian 
waters,  would  not  at  once  attack  the  raft,  but  held 
his  swift  ships  back,  until  his  prey  should  be  increased 
by  a  prosperous  passage.  When  they  had  begun  their 
rash  venture,  he  encouraged  them,  by  leaving  the  sea 
open,  to  try  a  second  voyage.  So  the  hunter  pro- 
ceeds:  until  he  pens  in  the  stags,  alarmed  by  the 
"  scare  "^  and  dreading  the  scent  of  the  tainted 
feathers,  or  until  he  sets  up  his  nets  on  the  line 
of  props,  he  shuts  the  noisy  mouth  of  the  swift 
Molossian  hound,  and  keeps  in  leash  the  hounds  of 
Sparta  and  Crete  ;  the  only  dog  allowed  to  range  the 
forest  is  he  who  puzzles  out  the  scent  with  nose  to 
the  ground  and  never  thinks  of  barking  when  his 
prey  is  discovered,  content  to  indicate  the  creature's 
lair  by  tugging  at  the  leash.  Soon  the  hulks  are 
manned ;  eagerly  they  embark  on  the  rafts  and 
abandon  the  island ;  it  was  the  time  when  the  last 
lingering  light  hinders  the  first  darkness  from  bring- 
ing on  the  night.  But  the  Cilicians  in  Pompey's 
pay,  resorting  to  their  ancient  skill,  prepared  to  lay 
a  trap  in  the  sea.  Leaving  the  surface  empty,  they 
hung  ropes  at  half  the  depth  of  the  water  and 
suffered  them  to  drift  about  at  large,  and  bound 
the  cables  to  the  cliffs  of  the  Illyrian  shore. 
Neither  the  first  raft  nor  the  second  was  hampered, 
but  the  third  hulk  stuck  fast  and  was  drawn  to  the 

207 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Haesit  et  ad  cautes  adducto  fune  secuta  est. 
Inpendent  cava  saxa  mari,  ruituraque  semper  456 

Stat — mirum — moles  et  silvis  aequor  inumbrat. 
Hue  fractas  Aquilone  rates  summersaque  pontus 
Corpora  saepe  tulit  caecisque  abscondit  in  antris ; 
Restituit  raptus  tectum  mare,  cumque  cavernae 
Evomuere  fretum,  contorti  vorticis  undae  460 

Tauromenitanam  vincunt  fervore  Charybdim. 
Hie  Opiterginis  moles  onerata  colonis 
Constitit ;  banc  omni  puppes  station e  solutae 
Circumeunt,  alii  rupes  ac  litora  conplent. 
Vulteius  tacitas  sentit  sub  gurgite  fraudes  4G5 

— Dux  erat  ille  ratis — frustra  qui  vincula  ferro 
Rumpere  conatus  poscit  spe  proelia  nulla 
Incertus  qua  terga  daret,  qua  pectora  bello. 
Hoc  tamen  in  casu,  quantum  deprensa  valebat, 
Effecit  virtus  :  inter  tot  milia  captae  470 

Circumfusa  rati  et  plenam  vix  inde  cohortem 
Pugna  fuit,  non  longa  quidem ;  nam  condidit  umbra 
Nox  lucem  dubiam,  pacemque  habuere  tenebrae. 

Tum  sic  attonitam  venturaque  fata  paventem 
Rexit  magnanima  Vulteius  voce  cohortem  :  475 

"  Libera  non  ultra  parva  quam  nocte  inventus, 
Consulite  extremis  angusto  in  tempore  rebus. 
Vita  brevis  nulli  superest,  qui  tempus  in  ilia 
Quaerendae  sibi  mortis  habet ;  nee  gloria  leti 
Inferior,  iuvenes,  admoto  occurrere  fato.  480 

Omnibus  incerto  venturae  tempore  vitae, 

^  These  men  had  been  enlisted  on  Caesar's  side  at  Opitergium 
in  Transpadane  Gaul  :  the  "  ships  "  are  those  of  Octavius. 

2  Because  he  was  surrounded  by  enemies. 

^  admoto :  the  meaning  is,  that  the  credit  of  suicide  is  not 
less  when  death  is  in  any  case  close  at  hand  than  when  it  is 
further  away  :  the  idea  is  repeated  in  11.  482,  3. 

2o8 


BOOK    IV 

rocks  when  the  rope  was  tightened.  Hollow  cliffs 
overhang  the  sea,  and  their  mass,  ever  in  act  to  fall, 
stands  marvellously  firm,  and  shadows  the  water 
with  trees.  Hither  the  tide  often  bore  ships  wrecked 
by  the  North  wind  and  the  bodies  of  drowned  men, 
and  buried  them  in  hidden  caverns;  but  the  sea 
beneath  the  rocks  restored  its  prey,  and  whenever 
the  caves  vomited  forth  the  tide,  the  waves  of  the 
whirling  eddy  surpassed  the  fury  of  Sicilian  Charybdis. 
Here  the  hulk  halted,  weighed  down  with  men  of 
Opitergium  ;  ^  and  all  the  ships,  casting  loose  from 
their  anchorage,  surround  it,  while  other  foes  cover 
the  rocks  and  the  shore.  Vulteius,  the  captain  of 
the  raft,  perceived  the  trap  concealed  beneath  the 
water,  and  tried  in  vain  to  sever  the  ropes  with  his 
sword ;  then  he  called  for  battle  with  no  hope  of 
victory,  not  knowing  -  on  which  side  he  was  offering 
his  back  or  his  front  to  attack.  Yet  even  in  this 
plight  valour  did  all  that  valour  could  do,  when 
taken  at  a  disadvantage  :  a  battle  was  fought  between 
the  many  thousands  who  swarmed  round  the  captured 
raft  and  the  men  on  board,  who  were  barely  six 
hundred  ;  but  the  battle  soon  ended  ;  for  the  shades 
of  night  hid  the  twilight,  and  the  darkness  brought 
a  truce. 

Then  thus  Vulteius  with  noble  speech  kept  his 
men  steady,  appalled  as  they  were  with  dread  of 
coming  death  :  "  Soldiers,  free  for  no  longer  than 
the  brief  space  of  a  night,  use  the  short  interval  to 
decide  upon  your  course  in  this  extremity.  No  life 
is  short  that  gives  a  man  time  to  slay  himself;  nor 
does  it  lessen  the  glory  of  suicide  to  meet  doom  at 
close  quarters.^  For  all  men  the  future  of  life  is 
uncertain;  and,  though  it  is  noble  in  the  mind  to 

209 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Par  animi  laus  est  et,  quos  speraveris,  annos 

Perdere  et  extremae  momentum  abrumpere  lueis, 

Accersas  dum  fata  manu  ;  non  cogitur  iillus 

Velle  mori.    Fuga  nulla  patet,  stant  undique  nostris    486 

Intenti  cives  iugulis  :  decernite  letum, 

Et  metus  omnis  abest.  Cupias^  quodcumque  necesse  est. 

Non  tamen  in  caeca  bellorum  nube  cadendum  est, 

Aut  cum  permixtas  acies  sua  tela  tenebris 

Involvent     Conferta  iacent  cum  corpora  campo,        490 

In  medium  mors  omnis  abit,  perit  obruta  virtus : 

Nos  in  conspicua  sociis  hostique  carina 

Constituere  dei.      Praebebunt  aequora  testes, 

Praebebunt  terrae,  summis  dabit  insula  saxis, 

Spectabunt  geminae  diverse  litore  partes.  496 

Nescio  quod  nostris  magnum  et  memorabile  fatis 

Exemplum,  Fortuna,  paras.     Quaecumque  per  aevum 

Exhibuit  monimenta  fides  servataque  ferro 

Militiae  pietas,  transisset  nostra  iuventus. 

Namque  suis  pro  te  gladiis  incumbere,  Caesar,  600 

Esse  parum  scimus ;  sed  non  maiora  supersunt 

Obsessis,  tanti  quae  pignora  demus  amoris. 

Abscidit  nostrae  multum  fors  invida  laudi. 

Quod  non  cum  senibus  capti  natisque  tenemur. 

Indomitos  sciat  esse  viros  timeatque  furentes  506 

Et  morti  faciles  animos  et  gaud  eat  hostis 

Non  plures  haesisse  rates.     Temptare  parabunt 

Foederibus  turpique  volent  corrumpere  vita. 

O  utinam,  quo  plus  habeat  mors  unica  famae, 

*  I.e.  from  two  different  points  on  the  shore. 

•  Had  opportunity  been  granted. 

2IO 


BOOK   IV 

forfeit  years  that  you  look  forward  to,  it  is  no  less 
noble  to  cut  short  even  a  moment  of  remaining  life, 
provided  that  you  summon  death  by  your  own  act. 
No  man  is  forced  to  die  voluntarily.  No  escape  is 
open  to  us ;  our  countrymen  surround  us,  eager  for 
our  lives;  resolve  upon  death,  and  then  all  fear  is 
dispelled :  let  a  man  desire  whatever  he  cannot 
avoid.  Yet  we  are  not  compelled  to  fall  on  the 
blind  haze  of  battle,  or  when  their  own  missiles 
cover  the  confused  armies  with  darkness.  When 
the  dead  lie  thick  upon  the  field,  each  death  is 
merged  in  a  common  account,  and  valour,  thus  over- 
laid, is  wasted.  But  us  the  gods  have  placed  on  a 
ship  that  is  seen  by  friend  and  foe  :  sea  and  land 
and  the  topmost  cliffs  of  the  island  will  provide 
witnesses ;  the  two  parties  from  the  two  opposite 
shores  ^  will  look  on.  By  our  death  Fortune  designs 
some  mighty  and  memorable  example  for  posterity. 
Our  company  would  have  surpassed  ^  all  records  that 
time  has  preserved  of  loyalty  and  military  devotion, 
maintained  by  the  sword.  For  we  know  that  it  is 
not  enough  for  Caesar's  men  to  fall  upon  their 
swords  in  his  defence ;  but,  hemmed  in  as  we  are, 
we  have  no  greater  pledge  to  give  of  our  deep 
devotion.  Grudging  Fortune  has  subtracted  much 
from  our  glory,  inasmuch  as  we  are  not  held  prisoners 
together  with  our  old  men  and  our  little  ones.  But 
let  the  foe  learn  that  our  men  are  unconquerable; 
let  him  dread  the  mad  courage  that  welcomes  death  ; 
and  let  him  thank  his  stars  that  only  one  of  the 
rafts  stuck  fast.  They  will  try  to  tempt  us  with 
terms  of  peace,  and  will  seek  to  bribe  us  by  the 
offer  of  dishonourable  life.  1  wish  that  they  would 
promise  pardon  and  encourage  us  to  hope  for  life ; 

211 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Promittant  veniam,  iubeant  sperare  salutem.  610 

Ne  nos,  cum  calido  fodiemus  viscera  ferro, 

Desperasse  putent.     Magna  virtute  merendum  est, 

Caesar  ut  amissis  inter  tot  milia  paucis 

Hoc  damnum  clademque  vocet.     Dent  fata  recessum 

Emittantque  licet,  vitare  instantia  nolim.  615 

Proieci  vitam,  comites,  totusque  futurae 

Mortis  agor  stimulis  :  furor  est.     Agnoscere  soils 

Permissum,  quos  iam  tangit  vicinia  fati, 

Victurosque  dei  celant,  ut  vivere  durent, 

Felix  esse  mori."     Sic  cunctas  sustulit  ardor  620 

Mobilium^  mentes  iuvenum.     Cum  sidera  caeli 

Ante  ducis  voces  oculis  umentibus  omnes 

Aspicerent  flexoque  Ursae  temone  paverent. 

Idem,  cum  fortes  animos  praecepta  subissent, 

Optavere  diem.     Nee  segnis  vergere  ponto  525 

Tunc  erat  astra  polus;  nam  sol  Ledaea  tenebat 

Sidera,  vicino  cum  lux  altissima  Cancro  est ; 

Nox  turn  Thessalicas  urguebat  parva  sagittas. 

Detegit  orta  dies  stantes  in  rupibus  Histros 
Pugnacesque  mari  Graia  cum  classe  Liburnos.  630 

Temptavere  prius  suspenso  vincere  bello 
Foederibus,  fieret  captis  si  dulcior  ipsa 
Mortis  vita  mora.     Stabat  devota  iuventus 
Damnata  iam  luce  ferox  securaque  pugnae 
^  Mobilium  Bentley  :  Nobilium  MSS. 

1  Midsummer,  when  the  sun  is  in  Gemini  and   Sagittarius 
(the  Archer)  is  above  the  horizon  all  night. 

212 


BOOK   IV 

for  so  our  matchless  death  would  gain  greater  re- 
nown, and  they  would  not  think,  when  they  see  us 
pierce  our  vitals  with  the  warm  steel,  that  we  have 
abandoned  hope.  It  requires  a  mighty  deed  of 
valour  to  make  Caesar,  when  he  loses  a  few  men 
out  of  so  many  thousands,  call  it  a  disaster  and  a 
defeat.  Should  Fate  now  suffer  me  to  withdraw 
and  release  me  from  her  grasp,  I  should  refuse  to  shun 
what  lies  before  me.  I  have  cast  life  behind  me, 
comrades,  and  am  wholly  driven  on  by  the  excitement 
of  coming  death  ;  it  is  a  veritable  possession.  None 
but  those  whom  the  approach  of  death  already  over- 
shadows are  suffered  to  know  that  death  is  a  bless- 
ing ;  from  those  who  have  life  before  them  the  gods 
conceal  this,  in  order  that  they  may  go  on  living." 
By  his  words  the  hearts  of  all  the  warriors  were 
changed,  and  swelled  with  martial  ardour.  Before 
their  leader  spoke  they  all  watched  the  stars  in 
heaven  with  weeping  eyes,  and  trembled  when  the 
pole  of  the  Wain  went  round ;  but  now,  when  his 
exhortation  had  sunk  into  their  stout  hearts,  they 
prayed  for  daylight.  Nor  at  that  season^  did  the 
sky  take  long  to  sink  the  stars  in  the  sea ;  for  the 
sun  was  in  the  constellation  of  Gemini,  when  his 
disk  reaches  its  zenith  and  Cancer  is  close  at  hand ; 
short  was  the  night  that  then  brooded  over  the 
Thessalian  Archer. 

Dawn  came  and  revealed  the  Histrians  posted  on 
the  cliffs  and  the  fierce  Liburnians  on  the  sea  with  the 
Greek  fleet.  They  suspended  the  fight  and  tried 
first  to  conquer  by  agreement,  hoping  that  the  mere 
postponement  of  death  might  make  life  sweeter  to 
the  prisoners  in  the  trap.  But  the  devoted  men 
stood  firm :   contempt  of  life  made  them  bold,  and 

213 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Promisso  sibi  fine  manu,  imllique  tumultus  635 

Excussere  viris  mentes  ad  summa  paratas ; 

Innumerasque  simul  pauci  terraque  marique 

Sustinuere  manus  ;  tanta  est  fiducia  mortis. 

Utque  satis  bello  visum  est  fluxisse  cruoris, 

Versus  ab  hoste  furor.     Primus  dux  ipse  carinae        640 

Vulteius  iugulo  poscens  iam  fata  reteeto 

"Ecquis"  ait  "iuvenum  est,  cuius  sit  dextra  cruore 

Digna  meo  certaque  fide  per  volnera  nostra 

Testetur  se  velle  mori  ?  "     Nee  plura  locuto 

Viscera  non  unus  iamdudum  transigit  ensis.  645 

Conlaudat  cunctos,  sed  eum,  cui  volnera  prima 

Debebat,  grato  moriens  interficit  ictu. 

Concurrunt  alii  totumque  in  partibus  unis 

Bellorum  fecere  nefas.     Sic  semine  Cadmi 

Emicuit  Dircaea  cobors  ceciditque  suorum  650 

Volneribus,  dirum  Thebanis  fratribus  omen ; 

Phasidos  et  campis  insomni  dente  creati 

Terrigenae  missa  magicis  e  cantibus  ira 

Cognato  tantos  inplerunt  sanguine  sulcos, 

Ipsaque,  inexpertis  quod  primum  fecerat  lierbis,         655 

Expavit  Medea  nefas.     Sic  mutua  pacti 

Fata  cadunt  iuvenes,  minimumque  in  morte  virorum 

Mors  virtutis  habet.      Pariter  sternuntque  caduntque 

Volnere  letali ;  nee  quemquam  dextra  fefellit. 

Cum  feriat  moriente  manu.     Nee  volnus  adactis         660 

Debetur  gladiis :  percussum  est  pectore  ferrum. 


*  See  note  to  i.  552. 

*  It  needed  more  courage  to  kill  their  comrades  than  to  face 
death  themselves. 

214 


BOOK   IV 

they  were  indifferent  to  the  issue  of  the  fight, 
because  they  had  engapjed  to  kill  themselves ;  no 
uproar  of  assault  could  dislodge  the  resolution  that 
was  prepared  for  the  worst ;  and  their  small  company 
withstood  the  countless  hands  that  attacked  them 
by  land  and  sea  at  once ;  so  great  is  the  confidence 
inspired  by  death.  Then,  when  they  deemed  that 
blood  enough  had  been  shed  in  battle,  they  turned 
their  fury  away  from  the  foe.  First  Vulteius  him- 
self, the  captain  of  the  craft,  bared  his  throat  and 
called  for  death.  "Is  any  soldier  here,"  he  cried, 
"whose  right  arm  is  worthy  of  my  blood,  who  will 
prove  his  wish  to  die  beyond  all  doubt  by  slaying 
me  ?  "  Before  he  could  speak  another  word,  his  body 
was  pierced  instantly  by  more  swords  than  one.  He 
thanked  them  all,  but  dying  slew  with  grateful  stroke 
him  to  whom  he  owed  his  first  wound.  Others  met 
in  combat ;  and  there  the  horrors  of  civil  war  were 
enacted  in  full  by  one  faction  alone.  Thus  from  the 
seed  sown  by  Cadmus  the  Theban  warriors  started 
up  and  were  slain  by  the  swords  of  their  kinsmen — 
a  dismal  omen  for  the  Theban  brothers ;  ^  and  thus 
in  the  land  of  the  Phasis  the  sons  of  Earth,  who 
sprang  from  the  teeth  of  the  sleepless  dragon,  filled 
the  vast  furrows  with  kindred  blood,  when  magic 
spells  had  filled  them  with  fury ;  and  Medea  herself 
was  appalled  by  the  first  crime  which  her  herbs, 
untried  before,  had  wrought.  So  the  soldiers  fell, 
sworn  to  slay  each  other ;  and  in  the  death  of  those 
heroes  death  itself  called  for  least  courage  ;^  at  the 
same  instant  they  dealt  a  fatal  wound  and  received 
it ;  and  no  man's  right  hand  failed  him,  though  he 
struck  with  dying  arm.  Nor  were  their  wounds  due 
to   the   pressure   of  the  sword  ;    but  their  breasts 

215 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  iuguli  pressere  manum.     Cum  sorte  cruenta 

Fratribus  incurrunt  fratres  natusque  parenti, 

Haud  trepidante  tamen  toto  cum  pondere  dextra 

Exegere  enses.      Pietas  ferientibus  una  665 

Non  repetisse  fuit.     lam  latis  viscera  lapsa 

Semianimes  traxere  foris  multumque  cruorem 

Infudere  mari.     Despectam  cernere  lucem 

V^ictoresque  suos  voltu  spectare  superbo 

Et  mortem  sentire  iuvat.      lam  strage  cruenta  670 

Conspicitur  cumulata  ratis^  bustisque  remittunt 

Corpora  victores,  ducibus  mirantibus,  ulli 

Esse  ducem  tanti.      Nullam  maiore  locuta  est 

Ore  ratem  totum  discurrens  Faraa  per  orbem. 

Non  tamen  ignavae  post  haec  exempla  virorum  575 

Percipient  gentes,  quam  sit  non  ardua  virtus 

Servitium  fugisse  manu,  sed  regna  timentur 

Ob  ferrum,  et  saevis  liber tas  uritur  armis, 

Ignorantque  datos,  ne  quisquam  serviat,  enses. 

Mors,  utinam  pavidos  vitae  subducere  nolles,  580 

Sed  virtus  te  sola  daret ! 

Non  segnior  illo 
Marte  fuit,  qui  tum  Libycis  exarsit  in  arvis. 
Namque  rates  audax  Lilybaeo  litore  solvit 
Curio,  nee  forti  velis  Aquilone  recepto 
Inter  semi ru tas  magnae  Carthaginis  areas  685 

Et  Clipeam  tenuit  stationis  litora  notae, 
Primaque  castra  locat  cano  procul  aequore,  qua  se 
Bagrada  lentus  agit  siccae  sulcator  harenae. 

2l6 


BOOK    IV 

dashed  against  the  steel,  and  their  throats  struck 
the  hand  of  the  striker.  At  a  time  when  murderous 
destiny  made  brother  rush  on  brother  and  son  on 
his  fatlier,  yet  tlieir  right  hands  never  hesitated  but 
drove  the  sword  home  with  all  its  weight.  The  only 
proof  of  affection  the  slayer  could  give  was  to  strike 
no  second  blow.  By  now  half  dead,  they  dragged 
their  protruding  entrails  over  the  wide  gangways  and 
poured  streams  of  blood  into  the  sea.  They  rejoice 
to  see  the  light  they  have  rejected,  to  watch  their 
conquerors  with  disdainful  eyes,  and  to  feel  the 
approach  of  death.  And  now  when  the  raft  was 
seen  piled  high  with  carnage,  the  victors  yield  up 
the  dead  to  the  funeral  pyre,  while  their  leaders 
marvel  that  any  man  should  prize  his  leader  so 
highly.  Fame,  that  flies  abroad  over  the  whole 
earth,  never  spoke  with  louder  voice  of  any  vessel. 
Yet  even  after  the  example  set  by  these  heroes, 
cowardly  nations  will  not  understand  how  simple  ^ 
feat  it  is  to  escape  slavery  by  suicide ;  and  the 
tyrant  is  dreaded  for  his  sword,  and  freedom  is 
weighed  down  by  cruel  weapons,  and  men  are 
ignorant  that  the  purpose  of  the  sword  is  to  save 
every  man  from  slavery.  O  that  death  were  the 
reward  of  the  brave  only,  and  would  refuse  to  release 
the  coward  from  life  ! 

No  less  fiercely  the  fire  of  war  blazed  up  then  in 
the  land  of  Libya.  For  bold  Curio  weighed  anchor 
on  the  shore  of  Sicily,  and  a  gentle  North  wind 
filled  the  sails,  till  he  gained  the  shore  of  famous 
anchorage  between  Clipea  and  the  half-ruined 
citadels  of  great  Carthage.  His  first  camp  he  pitched 
at  some  distance  from  the  hoary  sea,  where  the 
Bagrada  slowly  pushes  on  and  furrows  the  thirsty 

ik7 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

hide  petit  tumulos  exesasque  undique  rupes, 
Antaei  quas  regna  vocat  non  vana  vetustas.  690 

Nominis  antiqui  cupientem  noscere  causas 
Cognita  per  multos  docuit  rudis  incola  patres  : 
"  Nondum  post  genitos  Tellus  effeta  gigantas 
Terribilem  Libycis  partum  concepit  in  antris. 
Nee  tam  iusta  fuit  terrarum  gloria  Typlion  695 

Aut  Tityos  Briareusque  ferox  ;  caeloque  pepercit, 
Quod  non  Phlegraeis  Antaeum  sustulit  arvis. 
Hoc  quoque  tam  vastas  cumulavit  munere  vires 
Terra  sui  fetus,  quod,  cum  tetigere  parentem, 
lam  defecta  vigent  renovato  robore  membra.  600 

Haec  illi  spelunca  domus ;  latuisse  sub  alta 
Rape  ferunt,  epulas  raptos  habuisse  leones ; 
Ad  somnos  non  terga  ferae  praebere  cubile 
Adsuerunt,  non  silva  torum,  viresque  resumit 
In  nuda  tellure  iacens.     Periere  coloni  605 

Arvorum  Libyae,  pereunt  quos^appulit  aequor; 
Anxilioque  diu  virtus  non  usa  cadendi 
Terrae  spernit  oj)es  :  invictus  robore  cunctis, 
Quamvis  staret,  erat.     Tandem  volgata  cruenti 
Fama  mali  terras  monstris  aequorque  levantem  610 

Maguanimum  Alciden  Libycas  excivit  in  oras. 
Ille  Cleonaei  proiecit  terga  leonis, 
Antaeus  Libyci ;  perfundit  membra  liquore 
Hospes  Olympiacae  servato  more  palaestrae, 

1  Where  the  other  giants  fought  against  the  gods. 
«  This  was  the  invariable  garment  of  Hercules,  and  he  threw 
it  down  before  wrestling, 

2l8 


BOOK    IV 

sand.  From  there  he  marched  to  the  rocky  eminence, 
hollowed  out  on  all  sides,  which  tradition  with  good 
reason  calls  the  realm  of  Antaeus.  When  he  sought 
to  learn  the  origin  of  that  ancient  name,  he  was  told 
by  an  unlettered  countryman  a  tale  handed  down 
through  many  generations  : 

"  Even  after  the  birth  of  the  Giants  Earth  was  not 
past  bearing,  and  she  conceived  a  fearsome  offspring 
in  the  caves  of  Libya.  She  had  more  cause  to  boast 
of  him  than  of  Typhon  or  Tityos  and  fierce  Briareus ; 
and  she  dealt  mercifully  with  the  gods  when  she  did 
not  raise  up  Antaeus  on  the  field  of  Phlegra.^ 
Further  she  crowned  the  vast  strength  of  her  child 
with  this  gift,  that  his  limbs,  whenever  they  touched 
their  mother,  recovered  from  weariness  and  renewed 
their  strength.  Yonder  cave  was  his  dwelling ;  men 
say  that  he  hid  beneath  the  towering  cliff  and  feasted 
on  the  lions  he  had  carried  off;  when  he  slept,  no 
skins  of  wild  beasts  made  him  a  bed,  nor  did  the  trees 
supply  him  with  bedding ;  but  his  custom  was  to  lie 
on  the  bare  earth  and  so  recover  strength.  He  slew 
the  tillers  of  the  Libyan  fields  ;  he  slew  the  strangers 
whom  the  sea  brought  to  the  shore  ;  and  for  long,  in 
his  might,  he  spurned  his  mother's  aid  and  never 
availed  himself  of  the  help  that  falling  gave ;  so 
strong  was  he  that  even  wlien  he  stood  upright  none 
could  overcome  him.  The  hero  Alcides  was  then 
ridding  land  and  sea  of  monsters,  when  the  widespread 
report  of  this  bloodstained  ogre  summoned  him  to 
the  borders  of  Libya.  Down  on  the  ground  he  threw 
the  skin  of  the  Nemean  lion  ^  ;  the  skin  that  Antaeus 
threw  down  came  from  a  lion  of  Libya.  The  stranger, 
faithful  to  the  fashion  of  wrestlers  at  Olynipia, 
drenched  his  limbs  with  oil ;  the  other,  not  trusting 

219 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Ille  parum  fidens  pedibus  contingere  matrem  615 

Auxilium  membris  calidas  infudit  harenas. 

Conseruere  manus  et  multo  bracchia  nexu  ; 

Colla  diu  gravibus  frustra  temptata  lacertis, 

Inmotumque  caput  fixa  cum  fronte  tenetur ; 

Miranturque  habuisse  parem.     Nee  viribus  uti  620 

Alcides  primo  voluit  certamine  totis, 

Exhausitque  virum,  quod  creber  anhelitus  illi 

Prodidit  et  gelidus  fesso  de  corpore  sudor. 

Turn  cervix  lassata  quati,  turn  pectore  pectus 

Urgueri,  tunc  obliqua  percussa  labare  625 

Crura  rhanu.      lani  terga  viri  cedentia  victor 

Alligat  et  medium  conpressis  ilibus  artat 

Inguinaque  insertis  pedibus  distendit  et  omnem 

Explicuit  per  membra  virum.      Rapit  arida  tellus 

Sudorem:  calido  conplentur  sanguine  venae,  630 

Intumuere  tori,  totosque  induruit  artus 

Herculeosque  novo  laxavit  corjiore  nodos. 

Constitit  Alcides  stupefactus  robore  tanto, 

Nee  sic  Inachiis,  quamvis  rudis  esset,  in  undis 

Desectam  timuit  reparatis  anguibus  hydram.  635 

Gonflixere  pares,  Telluris  viribus  ille, 

Ille  suis.      Numquam  saevae  sperare  novercae 

Plus  licuit ;  videt  exhaustos  sudoribus  artus 

Cervicemque  viri,  siccam  cum  ferret  Olympum. 

tJtque  iterum  fessis  iniecit  bracchia  membris,  640 

Non  expectatis  Antaeus  viribus  hostis 

Sppnte  cadit  maiorque  accepto  robore  surgit. 


*  Hera,  the  wife  of  Zeus. 
220 


'       '  BOOK   IV 

to  contact  with  his  mother  Earth  by  means  of  his 
feet  alone,  poured  hot  sand  over  his  hmbs  to  help 
him.  They  locked  hands  and  arms  in  manifold 
embrace;  for  long  they  tried  the  strength  of  each 
other's  necks  with  the  pressure  of  arms,  without 
result ;  each  head  remained  unmoved  with  steadfast 
forehead;  each  marvelled  to  find  that  his  match 
existed  on  earth.  Unwilling  to  put  forth  all  his 
strength  at  the  beginning  of  the  contest,  Alcides 
wore  down  his  opponent ;  and  this  was  made  clear  to 
him  by  the  quick  panting  and  the  cold  sweat  that 
poured  from  the  weary  frame.  Soon  his  neck  flagged 
and  gave  way,  soon  breast  was  borne  down  by  breast, 
soon  the  legs  tottered,  struck  by  a  sidelong  blow  of 
the  fist.  Then  the  victor  pins  his  foe's  yielding  back, 
hugs  his  loins  and  squeezes  his  middle,  thrusts  his 
own  feet  to  part  the  thighs,  and  lays  his  man  at  full 
length  upon  the  ground,  from  top  to  toe.  But,  when 
the  dry  earth  eagerly  drank  his  sweat,  his  veins  were 
replenished  with  warm  blood,  his  muscles  swelled  out, 
his  whole  frame  grew  tough,  and  he  loosened  the 
grip  of  Hercules  with  fresh  strength.  Alcides  stood 
astonished  by  such  great  might :  even  by  the  waters 
of  Inachus,  though  he  was  inexperienced  then,  he  felt 
less  fear  of  the  chopped  Hydra  when  her  snakes  grew 
again.  The  combatants  were  well  matched,  one 
fighting  with  the  strength  of  Earth,  the  other  with 
his  own.  Never  was  the  cruel  stepmother^  of 
Hercules  more  sanguine  of  success  :  she  sees  his  body 
and  his  neck  worn  out  with  toil — that  neck  that 
never  sweated  when  it  supported  Olympus.  He 
grappled  a  second  time  with  his  weary  foe ;  but 
Antaeus,  without  waiting  for  the  pressure  of  his 
antagonist,  fell  down  voluntarily  and  rose  up  more 

221 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quisquis  inest  terris  in  fessos  spiritus  artus 

Egeritur,  Tellusque  viro  luctante  laborat. 

Ut  tandem  auxilium  tactae  prodesse  parentis  646 

Alcides  sensit,  '  Standum  est  tibi/  dixit  '  et  ultra 

Non  credere  solo,  sternique  vetabere  terra. 

Haerebis  pressis  intra  niea  pectora  membris : 

Hue,  Antaee,  cades.'     Sic  fatus  sustulit  alte 

Nitentem  in  terras  iuvenem.     Morientis  in  artus       650 

Non  potuit  nati  Tellus  permittere  vires : 

Alcides  medio  tenuit  iam  pectora  pigro 

Stricta  gelu  terrisque  diu  non  credidit  hostem. 

Hinc,  aevi  veteris  custos,  famosa  vetustas 

Miratrixque  sui  signavit  nomine  terras.  655 

Sed  maiora  dedit  cognomina  collibus  istis 

Poenum  qui  Latiis  revocavit  ab  arcibus  hostem 

Scipio ;  nam  sedes  Libyca  tellure  potito 

Haec  fuit.     En,  veteris  cernis  vestigia  valli. 

Romana  hos  primum  tenuit  victoria  campos.**  660 

Curio  laetatus,  tamquam  fortuna  locorum 
Bella  gerat  servetque  ducum  sibi  fata  priorum, 
Felici  non  fausta  loco  tentoria  ponens 
Indulsit  castris  et  collibus  abstulit  omen, 
Sollicitatque  feros  non  acquis  viribus  hostes.  665 

Omnis  Romanis  quae  cesserat  Africa  signis, 
Tum  Vari  sub  iure  fuit ;  qui  robore  quamquam 
Confisus  Latio  regis  tamen  undique  vires 
Uh 

*  Hannibal. 
232 


BOOK    IV 

mighty  with  an  accession  of  strength.  All  the  vital 
power  that  resides  in  the  earth  poured  into  his 
wearied  limbs ;  and  Earth  suffers  in  the  wrestling- 
match  of  her  son.  When  at  last  Alcides  perceived 
that  his  foe  got  help  by  contact  with  his  mother, 
*  You  must  stand  upright '  said  he  ;  'no  more  will  I 
trust  you  to  the  ground  or  suffer  you  to  lie  down  upon 
the  earth ;  here  you  shall  remain,  with  your  body 
clasped  in  my  embrace ;  if  you  fall,  Antaeus,  you 
shall  fall  on  me.'  Thus  Alcides  spoke  and  lifted 
on  high  the  giant  who  struggled  to  gain  the  ground, 
Earth  was  unable  to  convey  strength  into  the  frame 
of  her  dying  son  ;  for  Alcides,  standing  between, 
gripped  the  breast  that  was  already  stiff  with  cold 
obstruction,  and  refused  for  long  to  trust  his  foe  to 
the  earth.  Hence  the  land  has  got  its  name  from 
long  tradition  which  treasures  the  past  and  thinks 
highly  of  itself.  But  a  greater  name  was  given  to 
these  heights  by  Scipio,  when  he  brought  the 
Carthaginian  invader^  back  from  the  citadels  of 
Latium.  Here  he  encamped  when  he  reached  the 
soil  of  Libya;  yonder  you  see  the  remains  of  his 
ancient  rampart ;  these  are  the  fields  which  the 
Roman  conqueror  first  occupied." 

Curio  heard  this  with  joy,  believing  that  the  lucky 
spot  would  fight  for  him,  and  repeat  for  him  the 
success  of  former  leaders.  Pitching  his  ill-starred 
tents  on  that  lucky  ground,  he  trusted  too  much 
to  his  encampment  and  robbed  the  heights  of  their 
good  fortune.  He  challenged  a  fierce  enemy  who 
was  too  strong  for  him. 

All  of  Africa  that  had  yielded  to  the  Roman  arms 
was  then  commanded  by  Varus  ;  and  he,  though 
he  relied  on  Roman  soldiers,  nevertheless  summoned 

223 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Excivity  Libycas  gentes,  extremaque  mundi 

Signa  suum  comitata  lubam.      Non  fusior  ulli  670 

Terra  fuit  domino  :  qua  sunt  longissima,  regna 

Cardine  ab  occiduo  vicinus  Gadibus  Atlas 

Terminat,  a  medio  confinis  Syrtibus  Hammon  ; 

At,  qua  lata  iacet,  vasti  plaga  fervida  regni 

Distinet  Oceanum  zonaeque  exusta  calentis.  676 

Sufficiurit  spatio  populi :  tot  castra  secuntur, 

Autololes  Numidaeque  vagi  semperque  paratus 

Jiiculto  Gaetulus  equo,  turn  concolor  Indo 

Maurus,  inops  Nasamon,  mixti  Garamante  perusto 

Marraaridae  volucres,  aequaturusque  sagittas  680 

Medorum,  tremulum  cum  torsit  missile^  Mazax, 

Et  gens  quae  nudo  residens  Massylia  dorso 

Ora  levi  flectit  frenorum  nescia  virga, 

lit  solitus  vacuis  errare  mapalibus  Afer 

Venator,  ferrique  simul  fiducia  non  est,  686 

Vestibus  iratos  laxis  operire  leones. 

Nee  solum  studiis  civilibus  arma  parabat 

Privatae  sed  bella  dabat  luba  concitus  irae. 

Hunc  quoque,  quo  superos  humanaque  poUuit  anno, 

Lege  tribunicia  solio  depellere  avorum  690 

Curio  temptarat,  Libyamque  auferre  tyranno 

Dum  regnum  te,  Roma,  facit.     Memor  ille  doloris 

Hoc  bellum  sceptri  fructum  putat  esse  retenti. 

Hae  igitur  regis  trepidat  iam  Curio  fama. 


By    the    "Ocean"    is    meant    the    sea    to    the    north    of     t 


M^uretania. 


■^  50  JB.o.,  in  which  year  Curio  was  tribune. 
224 


BOOK    IV 

from  every  quarter  the  forces  of  King  Juba — the 
nations  of  Libya  and  the  troops  from  the  world's  end 
that  followed  their  king  to  battle.  No  ruler  pos- 
sessed a  broader  realm  tlian  he :  at  its  greatest 
length  his  kingdom  is  bounded  on  its  western  point 
by  Atlas,  neighbour  of  Gades,  and  on  the  East  by 
Ammon,  bordering  on  the  Syrtes ;  and  on  the  line 
of  its  breadth,  the  hot  region  of  his  huge  domain 
separates  the  Ocean  ^  from  the  burnt-up  torrid  zone. 
The  population  matches  the  area  :  the  king's  camp 
is  followed  by  so  many  tribes — Autololes,  unsettled 
Numidians,  and  Gaetulians  good  at  need  with  their 
bare-backed  horses ;  then  there  are  Moors  black 
as  Indians,  needy  Nasamonians,  swift  Marmaridae 
joined  with  sun-blackened  Garamantes,  Mazaces 
who  can  rival  the  archery  of  the  Parthians  when 
they  hurl  their  quivering  javelins,  and  the  Massylian 
people,  who  ride  barebacked  and  use  a  light  switch 
to  guide  their  horses  whose  mouths  have  never  felt 
the  bit;  there  follows  too  the  African  hunter, whose 
habit  it  is  to  stray  through  deserted  villages  and 
to  smother  angry  lions  in  the  folds  of  his  garment, 
when  he  has  lost  confidence  in  his  spear.  Not 
party  zeal  alone  stirred  up  Juba  to  arms :  war  was 
a  concession  to  personal  anger  as  well.  For  Curio, 
in  that  year^  during  which  he  outraged  heaven  and 
earth,  had  also  tried  to  dislodge  Juba  from  his 
ancestral  throne  by  means  of  a  tribune's  law — he 
sought,  at  the  same  tune,  to  take  Africa  from  its 
rightful  king  and  to  set  up  a  king  at  Rome  !  Juba, 
nursing  his  grievance,  considered  this  war  the  chief 
advantage  he  had  gained  by  retaining  his  crown. 
Hence  this  rumour  of  the  king  now  alarmed  Curio. 
He  was  alarmed  also  because  his  soldiers  had  never 

225 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Et  quod  Caesareis  numquam  devota  iuventus  695 

Ilia  nimis  castris  nee  Rlieni  miles  in  undis 

Exploratus  erat,  Corfini  captus  in  arce, 

Infidusque  novis  ducibus  dubiusque  priori 

Fas  utrumque  putat.     Sed  postquam  languida  segni 

Cernit  cuncta  metu  nocturnaque  munera  valli  700 

Desolata  fuga,  trepida  sic  mente  profatur  : 

"  Audendo  magnus  tegitur  tinior  ;  arma  capessam 
Ipse  prior.     Campum  miles  descendat  in  aequum, 
Dum  mens  est ;  variam  semper  dant  otia  mentem. 
Eripe  consilium  pugna  :  cum  dira  voluptas  705 

Ense  subit  presso^  galeae  texere  pudorem, 
Quis  conferre  duces  meminit?  quis  pendere  causas? 
Qua  stetit,  inde  favet;  veluti  fatalis  harenae 
Muneribus  non  ira  vetus  concurrere  cogit 
Productos,  odere  pares."     Sic  fatus  apertis  71ft 

Instruxit  campis  acies ;  quem  blanda  futuris 
Deceptura  malis  belli  fortuna  recepit. 
Nam  pepulit  Varum  campo  nudataque  foeda 
Terga  fuga,  donee  vetuerunt  castra,  cecidit. 

Tristia  sed  postquam  superati  proelia  Vari  715 

Sunt  audita  lubae,  laetus,  quod  gloria  belli 
Sit  rebus  servata  suis^  lapit  agmina  furtim, 
Obscuratque  suam  per  iussa  silentia  famam 
Hoc  solum  incauto  metuentis^  ab  hoste,  timeri. 

^  incauto  metuentis  Hmismnn  :  metuens  incauto  M88. 

1  Comp.  ii.  478  ff. 
226 


BOOK   IV 

been  overmuch  devoted  to  Caesar's  cause :  never 
tested  on  the  waters  of  the  Rhine,  they  had  been 
taken  prisoners  in  the  citadel  of  Corfinium^ ;  faithless 
to  their  leader  before  and  distrusted  by  Curio  now, 
they  think  it  lawful  to  take  either  side.     But  when 

^,.,  Curio  saw  the  slackness  of  sluggish  fear  on  every 
^^  hand,  and  the  nightly  service  on  the  ramparts  left 
undone  by  desertion,  he  spoke  thus  in  the  trouble 
,  of  his  soul : 

"  Boldness  is  a  mask  for  fear,  however  great ;  I 
will  take  the  field  before  the  foe.    Let  my  soldiers, 

or.',  while  they  are  still  mine,  march  down  to  the  level 
ground.  Idleness  is  ever  the  root  of  indecision ; 
snatch  from  them  by  battle  the  power  to  form  a 
plan ;  once  the  dreadful  passion  rises,  once  the 
sword  is  grasped  and  the  helmet  hides  the  blush 
of  shame,  who  thinks  then  of  comparing  leaders  or 
balancing  causes  .'*  Each  man  backs  the  side  on 
which  he  stands.  So  those  who  are  brought 
forth  at  the  shows  of  the  deathly  arena  are  not 
driven  to  fight  by  long-cherished  anger :  they  hate 
whoever  is  pitted  against  tliem."  Thus  he  spoke 
and  drew  up  his  line  upon  the  open  plain ;  and  the 
fortune  of  war,  meaning  to  betray  him  by  future 
disasters,  welcomed  him  now  with  smiles;  for  he 
drove  Varus  from  the  field  and  cut  up  his  defenceless 
rear  in  shameful  flight  until  the  camp  put  a  stop  to 
the  pursuit. 

But  when  Juba  heard  of  the  lost  battle  of  con- 
quered Varus,  he  rejoiced  that  the  glory  of  the 
campaign  was  reserved  for  his  arms.  He  marched 
in  haste  and  secrecy,  masking  the  report  of  his 
movement  by  enforcing  silence ;  his  one  fear  was 
that  his  rash  foe  might  feel  fear  of  him.     Sabbura, 

227 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Mittitur,  exigua  qui  proelia  prima  lacessat  72( 

Eliciatque  manu,  Numidis  a  rege  secundiis, 

Ut  sibi  commissi  simulator  Sabbura  belli ; 

Ipse  cava  regni  vires  in  valle  retentat : 

Aspidas  ut  Pliarias  cauda  sollertior  hostis 

Ludit  et  iratas  incerta  provocat  umbra  72; 

Obliquusque  caput  vanas  serpentis  in  auras 

Effusae  tuto  conprendit  guttura  morsu 

Letiferam  citra  saniem  ;  tunc  inrita  pestis 

Exprimitur,  faucesque  fluunt  pereunte  veneno. 

Fraudibus  eventum  dederat  fortuna,  feroxque  73( 

Non  exploratis  occulti  viribus  hostis 

Curio  nocturnum  castris  erumpere  cogit 

Ignotisque  equitem  late  decurrere  campis. 

Ipse  sub  aurorae  primos  excedere  motus 

Signa  iubet  castris,  multum  frustraque  rogatus,  Idl 

Ut  Libycas  metuat  fraudes  infectaque  semper  j 

Punica  bella  dolis.     Leti  fortuna  propinqui 

Tradiderat  fatis  iuvenem,  bellumque  trahebat 

Auctorem  civile  suum.     Super  ardua  ducit 

Saxa,  super  cautes  abrupt©  limite  signa,  74( 

Cum  procul  e  summis  conspecti  collibus  hostes 

Fraude  sua  cessere  parum,  dum  colle  relicto 

Effusara  patulis  aciem  committeret  arvis. 

Ille  fugam  credens  simulatae  nescius  artis, 

Ut  victor,  mersos  aciem  deiecit  in  agros.  741 

Ut  primum  patuere  doli,  Numidaeque  fugaces 

Undique  conpletis  clauserunt  montibus  agmen, 


.l«sA  ^o     '  The  ichneumon. 
228 


BOOK   IV 

second  to  tlie  king  in  command  of  the  Numidians, 
was  sent  out  with  a  small  force  to  challenge  the 
foe  and  tempt  them  to  begin  battle ;  he  was  to 
sham  an  attack  and  pretend  that  he  was  in  charge 
of  it,  while  the  king  kept  back  his  main  body  in  a 
hollow  valley.  So  snakes  in  Egypt  are  fooled  by 
the  craftier  foe^  with  his  tail:  he  stirs  up  their 
wrath  with  its  flickering  shadow,  while  the  snake 

^^  spends  its  force  upon  the  air  in  vain,  and  then, 
holding  his  head  aslant,  he  grips  the  throat  and  bites 
in  safety,  too  close  for  the  deadly  fluid  to  touch 
him ;  at  last  the  baffled  bane  is  squeezed  forth,  and 
the  poison  streams  idly  from  the  throat.  Fortune 
gave  success  to  the  trick  ;  and  daring  Curio,  without 

■  reconnoitring  the  strength  of  his  hidden  foe,  made 
his  cavalry  sally  forth  from  the  camp  by  night  and 
range  far  and  wide  over  the  unknown  plains.  He 
himself  at  the  first  stirring  of  dawn  bids  his  infantry 
leave  their  camp ;  in  vain  was  he  warned  repeatedly 
to  beware  of  Libyan  deceit  and  Punic  warfare  ever 

If)  tainted  by  guile.  The  doom  of  speedy  death  had 
handed  the  youth  over  to  destruction,  and  civil 
war  was  claiming  the  man  who  made  it.  Along  a 
perilous  path  he  led  his  men,  over  high  rocks  and 
cliffs,  and  then  the  enemy  was  sighted  far  away 
from  the  top  of  the  hills.     They,  with  their  native 

,;  craft,  drew  back  a  little,  till  he  should  leave  the 
height  and  trust  his  army  in  loose  array  to  the 
open  fields.  Curio,  ignorant  of  their  treacherous 
device,  believed  that  they  were  fleeing,  and,  as  if 
victorious,  marched  his  army  down  to  the  fields 
below.     As  soon  as  the  trick  was  revealed,  and  the 

;;, light  Numidian  cavalry  covered  the  heights  and 
surrounded  the  Romans  on  every  side,  the  leader 

229 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Obstipuit  dux  ipse  simul  perituraque  turba. 

Non  timidi  petiere  fugam,  non  proelia  fortes. 

Quippe  ubi  non  sonipes  motus  clangore  tubarum        750 

Saxa  quatit  pulsu  rigidos  vexantia  frenos 

Ora  terens  spargitque  iubas  et  subrigit  aures 

Incertoque  pedum  pugnat  non  stare  tumultu; 

Fessa  facet  cervix,  fumant  sudoribus  artus, 

Oraque  proiecta  squalent  arentia  lingua,  766! 

Pectora  rauca  gemunt,  quae  creber  anhelitus  urguet, 

Et  defecta  gravis  longe  traliit  ilia  pulsus, 

Siccaque  sanguineis  durescit  spuma  lupatis. 

lamque  gradum,  neque  verberibus  stimulisque  coacti 

Nee  quamvis  crebris  iussi  calcaribus,  addunt :  700 

V'olneribus  coguntur  equi ;  nee  profuit  ulli 

Cornipedis  rupisse  moras,  neque  enim  inpetus  ille 

Incursusque  fuit :  tan  turn  perfertur  ad  hostes 

Et  spatium  iaculis  oblato  volnere  donat. 

At,  vagus  Afer  equos  ut  primum  emisit  in  agmen,      765 

Turn  campi  tremuere  sono,  terraque  soluta, 

Quantus  Bistonio  torquetur  turbine,  pulvis 

Aera  nube  sua  texit  traxitque  tenebras. 

Ut  vero  in  pedites  fatum  miserabile  belli 

Incubuit,  nullo  dubii  discrimine  Martis  770 

Ancipites  steterunt  casus,  sed  tempora  pugnae 

Mors  tenuit;  neque  enim  licuit  procurrere  contra 

Et  miscere  manus.     Sic  undique  saepta  iuventus 

Comminus  obliquis  et  rectis  eminus  hastis 

Obruitur,  non  volneribus  nee  sanguine  solum,  775 

230 


BOOK  IV 

himself  and  his  doomed  army  were  stupefied  alike : 
the  coward  did  not  flee,  nor  the  brave  man  fight. 
For  there  the  war-horse  was  not  roused  by  the 
trumpet's  blare,  nor  did  he  scatter  the  stones  with 
stamping  hoof,  or  champ  the  hard  bit  that  chafes 
his  mouth,  with  flying  mane  and  ears  erect,  or  refuse 
to  stand  still,  and  shift  his  clattering  feet.  The 
weary  neck  sinks  down,  the  limbs  reek  with  sweat, 
the  tongue  protrudes  and  the  mouth  is  rough  and 
dry ;  the  lungs,  driven  by  quick  pants,  give  a  hoarse 
murmur ;  the  labouring  breath  works  the  spent 
flanks  hard ;  and  the  froth  dries  and  cakes  on  the 
blood-stained  bit.  Now  the  horses  refuse  to  go 
faster,  though  urged  by  blows  and  goads  and  called 
on  by  constant  spurring :  they  are  stabbed  to  make 
them  move ;  yet  no  man  profited  by  overcoming  the 
resistance  of  his  horse ;  for  no  charge  and  onset  was 
possible  there :  the  rider  was  merely  carried  close 
to  the  foe  and,  by  offering  a  mark,  saved  the  javelin 
a  long  flight.  But  as  soon  as  the  African  skirmishers 
launched  their  steeds  at  the  host,  the  plains  shook 
with  their  trampling,  the  earth  was  loosened,  and 
a  pillar  of  dust,  vast  as  is  whirled  by  Thracian 
stormwinds,  veiled  the  sky  with  its  cloud  and 
brought  on  darkness.  And  when  the  piteous  doom 
of  battle  bore  down  u{)on  the  Roman  infantry,  the 
issue  never  hung  uncertain  through  any  chance  of 
war's  lottery,  but  all  the  time  of  fighting  was  filled 
by  death :  it  was  impossible  to  rush  forward  in 
attack  and  close  with  the  enemy.  So  the  soldiers, 
surrounded  on  all  sides,  were  crushed  by  slanting 
thrusts  from  close  quarters  and  spears  hurled  straight 
forward  from  a  distance  —  doomed  to  destruction  not 
merely  by  wounds  and   blood    but   by  the  hail   of 

23T 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Telorura  nimbo  peritura  et  pondere  ferri. 
Ergo  acies  tantae  parvum  spissantur  in  orbem, 
Ac,  si  quis  metuens  medium  correpsit  in  aguicn, 
Vix  inpune  suos  inter  convertitur  enses ; 
Densaturque  globus,  quantum  pede  prima  relato 
Cpnstrinxit  gyros  acies.     Non  arma  movendi 
lam  locus  est  pressis,  stipataque  membra  teruntur ; 
Frangitur  armatum  conliso  pectore  pectus. 
Non  tam  laeta  tulit  victor  spectacula  Maurus 
Quam  fortuna  dabat ;  fluvios  non  ille  eruoris 
Membrorumque  videt  lapsum  et  ferientia  terram 
Corpora :  conpressum  turba  stetit  omne  cadaver. 

Excitet  invisas  dirae  Carthaginis  umbras 
Inferiis  Fortuna  no  vis,  ferat  ista  cruentus 
Hannibal  et  Poeni  tam  dira  piacula  manes. 
Romanam,  superi,  Libyca  tellure  ruinam 
Pompeio  prodesse  nefas  votisque  senatus ! 
Africa  nos  potius  vincat  sibi.     Curio,  fusas 
Ut  vidit  campis  acies  et  cernere  tantas 
Permisit  clades  conpressus  sanguine  pulvis, 
Non  tulit  adflictis  animam  producere  rebus 
Aut  sperare  fugam,  ceciditque  in  strage  suorum 
Inpiger  ad  letum  et  fortis  virtute  coacta. 

Quid  nunc  rostra  tibi  prosunt  turba ta  forumque, 
Unde  tribunicia  plebeius  signifer  arce 
Arma  dubas  populis  ?  quid  prodita  iura  senatus 
232 


BOOK    IV 

weapons  and  the  sheer  weight  of  steel.  Thus  a 
great  army  was  crowded  into  a  small  compass ; 
and,  if  any  man  in  fear  crawled  into  the  midst  of 
the  press,  he  could  scarce  move  about  unhurt 
amonor  the  swords  of  his  comrades ;  and  the  pack 
grew  thicker,  whenever  the  foremost  rank  stepped 
back  and  narrowed  the  circle.  The  crowded  soldiers 
have  no  longer  space  to  ply  their  weapons;  their 
bodies  are  squeezed  and  ground  together ;  and  the 
armoured  breast  is  broken  by  pressure  against 
another  breast.  The  victorious  Moors  did  not  enjoy 
to  the  full  the  spectacle  that  Fortune  granted  them : 
they  could  not  see  the  rivers  of  blood,  the  collapsing 
limbs,  and  the  bodies  striking  the  ground ;  for 
each  dead  man  was  held  bolt  upright  by  the  dense 
array. 

Let  Fortune  call  to  life  the  hated  ghost  of  dread 
Carthage  to  enjoy  this  new  sacrifice ;  let  blood- 
stained Hannibal  and  his  Carthaginian  dead  accept 
this  awful  expiation !  But  it  is  an  outrage,  ye  gods, 
that  the  fall  of  Romans  on  Libyan  soil  should  for- 
ward the  success  of  Pompey  and  the  desires  of  the 
Senate.  Rather  let  Africa  defeat  us  for  her  own 
objects.  When  Curio  saw  his  ranks  prostrate  on 
the  field,  and  when  the  dust  was  laid  by  blood,  so 
that  he  could  survey  that  awful  carnage,  he  would 
not  stoop  to  survive  defeat  or  hope  for  escape,  but 
fell  amid  the  corpses  of  his  men,  prompt  to  face 
death  and  brave  with  the  courage  of  despair. 

What  does  it  avail  him  now  that  he  stirred  up 
turmoil  on  the  Rostrum  in  the  Forum — that  strong- 
hold of  the  tribunes,  where  he  bore  the  standard 
of  the  populace  and  from  which  he  armed  all 
nations  ?     What  avails  it  that  he  betrayed  the  rights 

233 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  gener  atque  socer  hello  concurrere  iussi  ? 
Ante  iaces  quam  dira  duces  Pharsalia  confert, 
Spectandumque  tibi  bellum  civile  negatum  est. 
Has  urbi  miserae  vestro  de  sanguine  poenas 
Ferre  datis,  luitis  iugulo  sic  arma,  potentes. 
Felix  Roma  quidem  civesque  habitura  beatos, 
Si  libertatis  superis  tarn  cura  placeret 
Quam  vindicta  placet.     Libycas  en,  nobile  corpus, 
Pascit  aves  nullo  contectus  Curio  busto. 
At  tibi  nos,  quando  non  proderit  ista  silere 
A  quibus  omne  aevi  senium  sua  fama  repellit, 
Digna  damus,  iuvenis,  meritae  praeconia  vitae. 
Haud  alium  tanta  civem  tulit  indole  Roma, 
Aut  cui  plus  leges  deberent  recta  sequenti. 
Perdita  tunc  urbi  nocuerunt  saecula,  postquam 
Ambitus  et  luxus  et  opum  metuenda  facultas 
Transverso  mentem  dubiam  torrente  tulerunt ; 
Momentumque  fuit  mutatus  Curio  rerum 
Gallorum  captus  spoliis  et  Caesaris  auro. 
lus  licet  in  iugulos  nostros  sibi  fecerit  ensis 
Sulla  potens  Mariusque  ferox  et  Cinna  cruentus 
Caesareaeque  domus  series,  cui  tanta  potestas 
Concessa  est  ?  emere  omnes,  hie  vendidit  urbem. 


234 


BOOK   IV 

of  the  Senate  and  bade  Pompey  and  his  wife's  father 
meet  in  the  clasii  of  arms?  Low  he  lies,  before 
the  fatal  field  of  Pharsalia  confronts  the  leaders ; 
and  the  spectacle  of  civil  war  is  withheld  from  him. 
This  is  the  penalty  which  the  great  ones  of  the 
earth  suffer  their  unhappy  country  to  exact ;  thus 
they  pay  for  the  wars  they  make  with  their  own 
blood  and  their  own  deaths.  Fortunate  indeed 
would  Rome  be,  and  happy  her  citizens  hereafter, 
if  the  gods  were  as  careful  to  preserve  her  freedom 
as  they  are  to  avenge  it.^  Behold !  the  unburied 
body  of  Curio,  a  noble  carrion,  feeds  the  birds  of 
Libya.  But  to  suppress  those  deeds  which  are 
insured  by  their  own  glory  against  all  decay  of  time 
will  not  avail ;  and  therefore  we  award  a  due  meed 
of  praise  to  the  praiseworthy  part  of  his  life.  Rome 
never  bore  a  citizen  of  such  high  promise,  nor  one 
to  whom  the  constitution  owed  more  while  he  trod 
the  right  path.  But  then  the  corruption  of  the  age 
proved  fatal  to  the  State,  when  ambition  and  luxury 
and  the  formidable^  power  of  wealth  swept  away 
with  their  cross-current  the  unstable  principles  of 
Curio ;  and,  when  he  yielded  to  the  booty  of  Gaul 
and  Caesar's  gold,  his  change  turned  the  scale  of 
history.  Though  powerful  Sulla  and  bold  Marius, 
like  bloodstained  Cinna  and  all  the  line  of  Caesar's 
house,  secured  the  power  to  use  the  sword  against 
our  throats,  yet  to  none  of  them  was  granted  so 
high  a  privilege ;  for  they  all  bought  their  country, 
but  Curio  sold  it. 

*  I.e.  "to  punish  those  who  rob  Rome  of  freedom." 

*  /.«.  to  its  possessor. 


235 


m 


I 


BOOK  V 


LIBER   QUINTUS 

Sic  altema  duces  bellorum  volnera  passos 
In  Macetum  terras  miscens  adversa  secundis 
Servavit  fortuna  pares.     lam  sparserat  Haemo 
Bruma  nives  geJidoque  cadens  Atlantis  Olynipo, 
Instabatque  dies,  qui  dat  nova  nomina  fastis 
Quique  colit  primus  ducentem  tempora  lanum. 
Dum  tamen  emeriti  remanet  pars  ultima  iuris. 
Consul  uterque  vagos  belli  per  munia  patres 
Elicit  Epirum.     Peregrina  ac  sordida  sedes 
Romanos  cepit  proceres,  secretaque  rerum 
Hospes  in  externis  audivit  curia  tectis. 
Nam  quis  castra  vocet  tot  strictas  iure  secures. 
Tot  fasces?  docuit  populos  venerabilis  ordo, 
Non  Magni  partes  sed  Magnum  in  partibus  esse. 

Ut  primum  maestum  tenuere  silentia  coetum^  16 

Lentulus  e  celsa  sublimis  sede  profatur : 
•'  Indole  si  dignum  Latia,  si  sanguine  prisco 
Robur  inest  animis,  non  qua  tellure  coacti 
Quamquc  procul  tectis  captae  sedeamus  ab  urbis, 
Cernite,  sed  vestrae  faciem  cognoscite  turbae, 


1  Pharsalia  in  Thessaly  is  meant  by  this  plirase. 

2  Tlie  Pleiades  were  the  daughters  of  Atlas. 

*  January  1st,  48  B.C. 

*  Maroellus  and  Lentulus. 

238 


BOOK   V 

Thus  the  leaders  in  turn  suffered  the  wounds  of 
war,  and  Fortune,  blending  failure  with  success, 
kept  them  for  the  land  of  the  Macedonians  ^  equal 
in  strength.  Winter  had  already  sprinkled  Mount 
Haemus  with  snow,  and  the  daughter  of  Atlas  ^  was 
setting  in  a  chilly  sky.  The  day  ^  was  coming  that 
gives  new  names  to  the  Calendar  and  begins  the 
worship  of  Janus,  leader  of  the  months.  But,  before 
the  last  days  of  their  expiring  office  ran  out,  the  two 
consuls  *  summoned  to  Epirus  those  senators  who 
were  scattered  here  and  there  on  military  duties. 
Mean  and  foreign  was  the  chamber  that  held  the 
magnates  of  Rome ;  and  the  Senate  sat,  as  guests 
beneath  an  alien  roof,  to  hear  the  business  of  the 
State.  For  who  could  apply  the  name  of  "  camp  " 
to  all  those  rods  and  all  those  axes  bared  by  right 
of  law  ?  The  worshipful  body  taught  the  world 
that  they  were  not  the  party  of  Magnus  but  that 
Magnus  was  only  one  of  their  partisans. 

As  soon  as  silence  prevailed  in  the  sorrowing 
assembly,  Lentulus  rose  up  from  his  high  seat  of 
dignity  and  thus  addressed  them.  "  Senators,  if 
you  have  the  stout  hearts  that  befit  your  Latian 
stock  and  ancient  blood,  consider  not  the  land  in 
which  we  meet,  or  the  distance  which  divides  us 
from  the  dwellings  of  captured  Rome  ;  recognise 
rather  the  aspect  of  this  body,  and,  having  power 

239 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Cunctaque  iussuri  primum  hoc  decernite,  patres, 

Quod  regnis  populisque  liquet,  nos  esse  senatum. 

Nam  vel  Hyperboreae  plaustrum  glaciale  sub  Ursae 

Vel  plaga  qua  torrens  claususque  vaporibus  axis 

Nee  patitur  noctes  nee  iniquos  crescere  soles,  25 

Si  fortuna  ferat,  rerum  nos  summa  sequetur 

Imperiumque  comes.     Tarpeia  sede  perusta 

Gallorum  facibus  Veiosque  habitante  Camillo 

lllic  Roma  fuit.     Non  umquam  perdidit  ordo 

Mutato  sua  iura  solo.     Maerentia  tecta  30 

Caesar  habet  vacuasque  domos  legesque  silentes 

Clausaque  iustitio  tristi  fora ;  curia  solos 

Ilia  videt  patres,  plena  quos  urbe  fugavit : 

Ordine  de  tanto  quisquis  non  exulat  hie  est. 

Ignaros  scelerum  longaque  in  pace  quietos  36 

Bellorum  primus  sparsit  furor  :  omnia  rursus 

Membra  loco  redeunt.     En,  totis  viribus  orbis 

Hesperiam  pensant  superi :  iacet  hostis  in  undis 

Obrutus  Illyricis,  Libyae  squalentibus  arvis 

Curio  Caesarei  cecidit  pars  magna  senatus.  40 

ToUite  signa,  duces,  fatorum  inpellite  cursum, 

Spem  vestram  praestate  deis,  fortunaque  tantos 

Det  vobis  animos,  quantos  fugientibus  hostem 

Causa  dabat.     Nostrum  exhausto  ius  clauditur  anno ; 

Vos,  quorum  finem  non  est  sensura  potestas,  45 

Consulite  in  medium,  patres,  Magnumque  iubete 

Esse  ducem."     Laeto  nomen  clamore  senatus 

1  He  implies  that  the  senators  who  have  submitted  to  Caesar 
are  the  real  exiles. 

2  An  allusion  to  the  death  of  the  Opitergians  ;  see  iv.  404  f. 
»  The  two  consuls. 

240 


BOOK   V 

to  pass  any  measure,  decree  this  first  of  all — and 
the  fact  is  clear  to  all  kings  and  nations — that  we 
are  the  Senate.  For  whether  beneath  the  icy  Wain 
of  the  Northern  Bear,  or  in  the  torrid  zone  and  the 
clime  fenced  in  by  heat,  where  neither  night  nor 
day  may  grow  beyond  equality,  wherever  Fortune 
carry  us,  the  State  will  go  with  us  and  empire 
attend  us.  When  the  Tarpeian  sanctuary  was  con- 
sumed by  the  firebrands  of  the  Gauls,  Camillus 
dwelt  at  Veii,  and  Veii  was  Rome.  Never  has  this 
order  forfeited  its  rights  by  changing  its  place. 
Caesar  has  in  his  power  the  sorrowing  buildings,  the 
empty  houses,  the  silenced  laws,  and  the  law-courts 
closed  by  a  dismal  holiday  ;  but  that  Senate  House 
sees  no  senators  save  those  whom  it  expelled  ere 
Rome  was  deserted  :  every  member  of  this  great 
body  who  is  not  an  exile  is  present  here.^  VVhen 
we  knew  naught  of  civil  war  and  had  rested  long 
in  peace,  the  first  fury  of  warfare  drove  us  apart ; 
but  now  all  the  scattered  limbs  return  to  the  body. 
See  how  the  gods  make  good  the  loss  of  Italy  by 
the  armed  strength  of  the  whole  world  I  Our 
enemies  lie  deep  in  Illyrian  waters  ;  ^  and  Curio,  a 
mighty  man  in  Caesar's  Senate,  has  fallen  on  the 
barren  fields  of  Libya.  Lift  up  your  standards,  ye 
leaders  of  armies  ;  hasten  the  course  of  destiny ; 
convince  the  gods  that  you  have  hope ;  and  draw 
from  success  the  confidence  which  your  good  cause 
gave  you  when  you  fled  before  Caesar.  For  us  ^  the 
time  of  office  expires  when  the  year  closes ;  but 
your  authority,  senators,  can  never  be  subject  to 
any  limits ;  and  therefore  take  counsel  for  the 
common  good,  and  vote  for  Magnus  as  your  leader." 
That  name  was  hailed  with  applause  by  the  senators; 

241 

VOL.   I.  I 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Excipit  et  Magno  fatum  patriaeque  suumque 
Inposuit.     Tunc  in  reges  populosque  merentes 
Sparsus  honor,  pelagique  potens  Phoebeia  donis  60 

Exornata  Rhodos  geiidique  inculta  inventus 
Taygeti ;  fama  veteres  laudantur  Athenae, 
Massiliaeque  suae  donatur  libera  Phoeis. 
Turn  Sadalam  fortemque  Cotyn  fidumque  per  arma 
Deiotarum  et  gelidae  dominum  Rhascypolin  orae         66 
Conlaudant,  Libyamque  iubent  auctore  senatu 
Sceptrifero  parere  lubae.     Pro  tristia  fata  ! 
Et  tibi,  non  fidae  gentis  dignissime  regno, 
Fortunae,  Ptolomaee,  pudor  crimenque  deorum, 
Cingere  Pellaeo  pressos  diademate  crines  60 

Permissum.     Saevum  in  populos  puer  accipit  ensem, 
Atque  utinam  in  populos !  donata  est  regia  Lagi, 
Accessit  Magni  iugulus,  regnumque  sorori 
Ereptum  est  soceroque  nefas.     lam  turba  solute 
Anna  petit  coetu  ;  quae  cum  populique  ducesque         66 
Casibus  incertis  et  caeca  sorte  pararent, 
Solus  in  ancipites  metuit  descendere  Martis 
Appius  eventus,  finemque  expromere  rerum 
Sollicitat  superos  multosque  obducta  per  annos 
Delphica  fatidici  reserat  penetralia  Phoebi.  70 

Hesperio  tantum  quantum  summotus  Eoo 
Cardine  Parnasos  gemino  petit  aethera  colle, 
Mons  Phoebo  Bromioque  sacer,  cui  numine  mixto 


*  See  note  to  iii.  340. 

"  Pella  was  the  ancient  capital  of  Macedonia.  The  first 
Ptolemy,  named  Lagus,  was  a  Macedonian ;  and  Lucan  often 
uses  the  epithet  Pellaeus  of  the  Egyptian  king  and  court. 

*  Delphi,  near  Parnassus,  claimed  to  be  the  centre  of  the 
earth. 

242 


BOOK    V 

and  they  laid  on  the  shoulders  of  Magnus  the 
burden  of  their  country's  fate  and  of  their  own. 
Next,  rewards  for  good  service  were  freely  bestowed 
on  kings  and  peoples  :  gifts  of  honour  were  con- 
ferred on  the  rugged  soldiery  of  cold  Taygetus,  and 
on  Rhodes,  queen  of  the  seas  and  island  of  Apollo  ; 
Athens  of  ancient  fame  was  commended  ;  and 
Phocis  ^  was  declared  free,  in  compliment  to 
Massilia,  her  daughter  city.  Praise  was  given  also 
to  Sadalas  and  brave  Cotys,  to  the  faithful  ally, 
Deiotarus,  and  to  Rhascypolis,  lord  of  a  frozen  land ; 
and  Libya  was  bidden  to  obey  King  Juba  by  the 
authority  of  the  Senate.  And  next — O  cruelty  of 
Fate — to  Ptolemy,  right  worthy  to  rule  a  treacherous 
people,  to  Ptolemy,  that  disgrace  of  Fortune  and 
reproach  of  the  gods,  it  was  permitted  to  place  on 
his  head  the  weight  of  the  Macedonian  2  crown. 
The  boy  received  the  sword  to  use  it  ruthlessly 
against  his  people.  Would  that  they  alone  had 
suffered  !  But,  while  the  Senate  gave  the  throne 
of  Lagus,  the  life  of  Magnus  was  thrown  in  as  well  ; 
and  so  Cleopatra  lost  her  kingdom,  and  Caesar  the 
power  to  murder  his  son-in-law.  Then  the  meeting 
dispersed,  and  all  took  up  arms.  But,  while  the 
nations  and  their  leaders  prepared  for  war,  uncertain 
of  the  future  and  blind  to  their  destiny,  Appius 
alone  feared  to  commit  himself  to  the  lottery  of 
battle ;  therefore  he  appealed  to  the  gods  to  reveal 
the  issue  of  events ;  and  Delphi,  the  oracular 
shrine  of  Apollo,  closed  for  many  years,  was  by  him 
unbarred. 

At  equal  distance  from  the  limits  of  East  and 
West,^  the  twin  peaks  of  Parnassus  soar  to  heaven. 
The  mountain  is  sacred  to  Phoebus  and  to  Bromios, 

«43 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Delphica  Thebanae  referunt  trieterica  Bacchae. 
Hoc  solum  fluctu  terras  mergente  cacumen  75 

Eminuit  pontoque  fuit  discrimen  et  astris. 
Tu  quoque  vix  summam,  seductus  ab  aequore,  rupem 
Extuleras,  unoque  iugo,  Parnase^  latebas. 
Ultor  ibi  expulsaCj  premeret  cum  viscera  partus, 
Matris,  adhuc  rudibus  Paean  Pythona  sagittis  80 

Explicuit,  cum  regna  Themis  tripodasque  teneret. 
Ut  vidit  Paean  vastos  telluris  hiatus 
Divinam  spirare  fidem  ventosque  loquaces 
Exhalare  solum,  sacris  se  condidit  antris, 
Incubuitque  adyto  vates  ibi  factus  Apollo.  85 

Quis  latet  hicsuperum?  quod  numenabaetherepressum 
Dignatur  caecas  inclusum  habitare  cavernas? 
Quis  terram  caeli  patitur  deus,  omnia  cursus 
Aeterni  secreta  tenens  mundoque  futuri 
Conscius,  ac  populis  sese  proferre  paratus  90 

Contactumque  ferens  hominis,  magnusque  potensque, 
Sive  canit  fatum  seu,  quod  iubet  ille  canendo, 
Fit  fatum  ?     Forsan  t  err  is  inserta  regendis 
Acre  libratum  vacuo  quae  sustinet  orbem, 
Totius  pars  magna  lovis  Cirrhaea  per  antra  95 

Exit  et  aetherio  trahitur  conexa  Tonanti. 
Hoc  ubi  virgineo  conceptum  est  pectore  numen, 
Humanam  feriens  animam  sonat  oraque  vatis 


*  This  is  Stoic  doctrine. 

2  Cinha,  the  port  of  Delphi,  is  often  used  as  a  synonym  for 
the  oracle  itself. 

244 


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BOOK    V 

in  whose  honour  the  Bacchants  of  Thebes,  treating 
the  two  gods  as  one,  hold  their  triennial  festival  at 
Delphi.  When  the  Flood  covered  the  earth,  this 
height  alone  rose  above  the  level  and  was  all  that 
separated  sea  from  sky ;  and  even  Parnassus,  parted 
in  two  by  the  flood,  only  just  displayed  a  rocky 
summit,  and  one  of  its  peaks  was  submerged.  There 
Apollo,  with  yet  unpractised  shafts,  laid  low  the 
Python  and  so  avenged  his  mother  who  had  been 
driven  fortli  when  great  with  child.  Themis  was  then 
queen  and  mistress  of  the  oracle  ;  but,  when  Apollo 
saw  that  the  huge  chasm  in  the  earth  breathed 
forth  divine  truth,  and  that  the  ground  gave  out  a 
wind  that  spoke,  then  he  enshrined  himself  in  the 
sacred  caves,  brooded  over  the  holy  place,  and  there 
became  a  prophet. 

Which  of  the  immortals  is  hidden  here  ?  W^hat 
deity,  descending  from  heaven,  deigns  to  dwell  pent 
up  in  these  dark  grottoes  ?  What  god  of  heaven 
endures  the  weight  of  earth,  knowing  every  secret 
of  the  eternal  process  of  events,  sharing  with  the 
sky  the  knowledge  of  the  future,  ready  to  reveal 
himself  to  the  nations,  and  patient  of  contact  with 
mankind  ?  A  great  and  mighty  god  is  he,  whether 
he  merely  predicts  the  future  or  the  future  is  itself 
determined  by  the  fiat  of  his  utterance.  It  may  be 
that  a  large  part  of  the  whole  divine  element  is 
embedded  in  the  world  to  rule  it,^  and  supports  the 
globe  poised  upon  empty  space  ;  and  this  part  issues 
forth  through  the  caves  of  Cirrha,^  and  is  inhaled 
there,  though  closely  linked  to  the  Thunderer  in 
heaven.  When  this  inspiration  has  found  a  harbour 
in  a  maiden's  bosom,  it  strikes  the  human  soul  of 
the  priestess  audibly,  and  unlocks  her  lips,  even  as 

^45 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Solvit,  ceu  Siculus  flammis  urguentibus  Aetnam 
Undat  apex,  Campana  fremens  ceu  saxa  vaporat  100 

Conditus  Inarimes  aeterna  mole  Typhoeus. 

Hoc  tamen  expositum  cunctis  nuUique  negatum 
Numen  ab  human!  solum  se  labe  furoris 
Vindicat.     Haud  illic  tacito  mala  vota  susurro 
Concipiunt,  nam  fixa  canens  mutandaque  nulli  105 

Mortales  optare  vetat ;  iustisque  benignus 
Saepe  dedit  sedem  totas  mutantibus  urbes, 
Ut  Tyriis,  dedit  ille  minas  inpellere  belli, 
Ut  Salaminiacum  meminit  mare  ;  sustulit  iras 
Telluris  sterilis  monstrato  fine  ;  resolvit  110 

Aera  tabificum.     Non  uUo  saecula  dono 
Nostra  carent  maiore  deum,  quam  Delphica  sedes 
Quod  siluit,  postquam  reges  timuere  futura 
Et  superos  vetuere  loqui.     Nee  voce  negata 
Cirrhaeae  maerent  vates,  templique  fruuntur  115 

lustitio.     Nam  si  qua  deus  sub  pectora  venit, 
Numinis  aut  poena  est  mors  inmatura  recepti 
Aut  pretium ;  quippe  stimulo  fluctuque  furoris 
Conpages  Humana  labat,  pulsusque  deorum 
Concutiunt  fragiles  animas.     Sic  tempore  longo  120 

Inmotos  tripodas  vastaeque  silentia  rupis 
Appius  Hesperii  scrutator  ad  ultima  fati 
Sollicitat.     lussus  sedes  laxare  verendas 
Antistes  pavidamque  deis  inmittere  vatem 
Castalios  circum  latices  nemorumque  recessus  125 


1  The  Athenians  were  encouraged  to  fight  Xerxes  by  the 
Delphian  oracle. 
*  On  which  the  priestesses  sat. 

246 


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BOOK    V 

the  crown  of  Etna  in  Sicily  boils  over  from  the 
pressure  of  the  flames  ;  and  as  Typhoeus,  where  he 
lies  beneath  the  everlasting  mass  of  Inarime,  makes 
hot  the  rocks  of  Campania  by  his  unrest. 

This  sacred  shrine,  which  welcomes  all  men  and 
is  denied  to  none,  nevertheless  alone  is  free  from 
the  taint  of  human  wickedness.  There  no  sinful 
prayers  are  framed  in  stealthy  whisper ;  for  the  god 
forbids  mankind  to  pray  for  anything,  and  only  pro- 
claims the  doom  that  none  may  change.  To  the 
righteous  he  shows  favour  :  when  whole  cities,  as 
in  the  case  of  Tyre,  were  abandoned  by  their  inhabi- 
tants, he  has  often  given  them  a  place  to  dwell  in  ; 
he  has  enabled  others  to  dispel  the  dangers  of  war, 
as  the  sea  of  Salamis  ^  has  not  forgotten  ;  he  has 
removed  the  anger  of  the  barren  earth  by  revealing 
a  remedy  ;  he  has  cleared  the  air  from  the  taint  of 
plague.  But  the  Del})hian  oracle  became  dumb, 
when  kings  feared  the  future  and  stopped  the 
mouth  of  the  gods;  and  no  divine  gift  is  more 
sorely  missed  by  our  age.  Yet  the  priestesses  of 
Delphi  feel  no  grief  that  utterance  is  denied  them  : 
nay,  they  rejoice  in  the  cessation  of  the  oracle. 
For,  if  the  god  enters  the  bosom  of  any,  untimely 
death  is  her  penalty,  or  her  reward,  for  having 
received  him ;  because  the  human  frame  is  broken 
up  by  the  sting  and  surge  of  that  frenzy,  and  the 
stroke  from  heaven  shatters  the  brittle  life. — So 
when  Appius,  probing  the  last  secrets  of  Roman 
destiny,  urged  his  quest,  the  tripods  ^  had  long  been 
motionless  and  the  mighty  rock  silent.  When  the 
priest  was  bidden  to  unbar  the  awful  shrine  and 
usher  the  terrified  priestess  into  the  divine  presence, 
Phemonoe  was  wandering  free  from  care  about  the 

^47 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Phemonoen  errore  vagam  curisque  vacantem 

Corripuit  cogitque  fores  inrumpere  templi. 

Limine  terrifico  metiiens  consistere  Phoebas 

Absterrere  ducem  noscendi  ardore  futura 

Cassa  fraude  parat.    "  Quid  spes  "  ait  "  inproba  veri  130 

Te,  RomanCj  trahit  ?  muto  Parnasos  hiatu 

Conticuit  pressitque  deum,  seu  spiritus  istas 

Destituit  fauces  mundique  in  devia  versum 

Duxit  iter,  seu,  barbarica  cum  larapade  Python 

Arsit,  in  inmensas  cineres  abiere  cavernas  135 

Et  Phoebi  tenuere  viam,  seu  sponte  deorum 

Cirrha  silet  farique  sat  est  arcana  futuri 

Carmina  longaevae  vobis  conmissa  Sibyllae, 

Seu  Paean  solitus  templis  arcere  nocentes, 

Ora  quibus  sol  vat,  nostro  non  invenit  aevo,"  140 

Virginei  patuere  doli,  fecitque  negatis 
Numinibus  metus  ipse  fidem.     Turn  torta  priores 
Stringit  vitta  comas,  crinesque  in  terga  solutos 
Candida  Piiocaica  conplectitur  infula  lauro.  J 

Haerentem  dubiamque  premens  in  templa  sacerdos   145  ^ 
Inpulit.     Ilia  pavens  adyti  penetrale  remoti 
Fatidicum  prima  templorum  in  parte  resistit 
Atque  deum  simulans  sub  pectore  ficta  quieto 
Verba  refert,  nullo  confusae  murmure  vocis 
Instinctam  sacro  mentem  testata  furore,  150 

Haud  aeque  laesura  ducem,  cui  falsa  canebat, 
Qiiam  tripodas  Phoebique  fidem.     Non  rupta  trementi 

*  Another  name  for  Delphi  ;  the  temple  was  burnt  by  Gauls  i 
in  279  B.C.  ' 

2a8 


BOOK   V 

spring  of  Castalia  and  the  sequestered  grove  ;  he 
laid  liands  upon  lier  and  compelled  her  to  rush 
within  the  temple  doors.  Fearing  to  take  her  stand 
on  that  dread  threshold,  Apollo's  priestess  sought 
by  vain  deceit  to  discourage  Appius  from  his  eager- 
ness to  learn  the  future.  "  Why,"  she  asked,  ^'  does 
presumptuous  hope  of  learning  the  truth  draw  you 
hither,  O  Roman  .''  The  chasm  of  Parnassus,  fallen 
dumb  and  silent,  has  buried  its  god.  Either  the 
breath  of  inspiration  has  failed  yonder  outlet  and 
has  shifted  its  path  to  a  distant  region  of  the  world ; 
or,  when  Pytho^  was  burned  by  the  brands  of 
barbarians,  the  ashes  sank  into  the  vast  caverns  and 
blocked  the  passage  of  Phoebus  ;  or  Delphi  is  dumb 
by  the  will  of  Heaven,  and  it  is  thought  enough  that 
the  verses  of  the  ancient  Sibyl,  entrusted  to  your 
nation,  should  tell  forth  the  hidden  future  ;  or  else 
Apollo,  accustomed  to  exclude  the  guilty  from  his 
shrine,  finds  none  in  our  age  for  whose  sake  to 
unseal  his  lips." 

The  maiden's  craft  was  plain,  and  even  her  fears 
proved  the  reality  of  the  deity  she  denied.  Then 
the  circling  band  confined  the  tresses  above  her 
brow  ;  and  the  hair  that  streamed  down  her  back 
was  bound  by  the  white  fillet  and  the  laurel  of 
Phocis.  When  still  she  paused  and  hesitated,  the 
priest  thrust  her  by  force  into  the  temple.  Dread- 
ing the  oracular  recess  of  the  inner  shrine,  she 
halted  by  the  entrance,  counterfeiting  inspiration 
and  uttering  feigned  words  from  a  bosom  unstirred  ; 
and  no  inarticulate  cry  of  indistinct  utterance  proved 
that  her  mind  was  inspired  with  the  divine  frenzy. 
To  Appius,  who  heard  her  false  prophecy,  she  could 
do  less  harm  than  to  the  oracle  and  Apollo's  repute 

«49 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Verba  sono  nee  vox  antri  conplere  capacis 
Sufficiens  spatium  nulloque  horrore  comarum 
Excussae  laurus  inmotaque  limina  templi 
Securumque  nemus  veritam  se  credere  Phoebo 
Prodiderant.     Sensit  tripodas  cessare  furensque 
Appius,  "  Et  nobis  meritas  dabis,  inpia^  poenas 
Et  superis,  quos  fingis,"  ait  "  nisi  mergeris  antris 
Deque  orbis  trepidi  tanto  consulta  tumultu 
Desinis  ipsa  loqui."     Tandem  conterrita  virgo 
Confugit  ad  tripodas  vastisque  adducta  cavernis 
Haesit  et  insueto  concepit  pectore  numen. 
Quod  non  exhaustae  per  tot  iam  saecula  rupis 
Spiritus  ingessit  vati ;  tandemque  potitus 
Pectore  Cirrhaeo  non  umquam  plenior  artus 
Phoebados  inrupit  Paean  mentemque  priorem 
Expulit  atque  hominem  toto  sibi  cedere  iussit 
Pectore.     Bacchatur  demens  aliena  per  antrum 
Colla  ferens,  vittasque  del  Phoebeaque  serta 
Erectis  discussa  comis  per  inania  templi 
Ancipiti  cervice  rotat  spargitque  vaganti 
Obstantes  tripodas  magnoque  exaestuat  igne 
Iratum  te,  Piioebe,  ferens.     Nee  verbere  solo 
Uteris  et  stimulos  flammasque  in  viscera  mergis : 
Accipit  et  frenos,  nee  tantum  prodere  vati 
Quantum  scire  licet.     Venit  aetas  omnis  in  unam 
Congeriem,  miserumque  premunt  tot  saecula  pectus, 
250 


BOOK   V 

for  truth.  Her  words,  that  rushed  not  forth  with 
tremulous  cry ;  her  voice,  which  had  not  power  to 
fill  the  space  of  the  vast  cavern ;  her  laurel  wreath, 
which  was  not  raised  off  her  head  by  the  bristling 
hair;  the  unmoved  floor  of  the  temple  and  the 
motionless  trees — all  these  betrayed  her  dread  of 
trusting  herself  to  Apollo.  Appius  perceived  that 
the  oracle  was  dumb,  and  cried  out  in  fury :  "  Pro- 
fane wretch,  I  myself  and  the  gods  whom  you 
counterfeit  will  punish  you  even  as  you  deserve, 
unless  you  go  down  into  the  cave  and  cease,  when 
consulted  concerning  the  mighty  turmoil  of  a  terrified 
world,  to  speak  your  own  words."  Scared  at  last 
the  maiden  took  refuge  by  the  tripods ;  she  drew 
near  to  the  vast  chasm  and  there  stayed ;  and  her 
bosom  for  the  first  time  drew  in  the  divine  power, 
which  the  inspiration  of  the  rock,  still  active  after  so 
many  centuries,  forced  upon  her.  At  last  Apollo 
mastered  the  breast  of  the  Del[)hian  priestess ;  as 
fully  as  ever  in  the  past,  he  forced  his  way  into  her 
body,  driving  out  her  former  thoughts,  and  bidding 
her  human  nature  to  come  forth  and  leave  her  heart 
at  his  disposal.  Frantic  she  careers  about  the  cave, 
with  her  neck  under  possession  ;  the  fillets  and  gar- 
lands of  Apollo,  dislodged  by  her  bristling  hair,  she 
whirls  with  tossing  head  through  the  void  spaces 
of  the  temple  ;  she  scatters  the  tripods  that  impede 
her  random  course  ;  she  boils  over  with  fierce  fire, 
while  enduring  the  wrath  of  Phoebus.  Nor  does  he 
ply  the  whip  and  goad  alone,  and  dart  flame  into 
her  vitals  :  she  has  to  bear  the  curb  as  well,  and  is 
not  permitted  to  reveal  as  much  as  she  is  suffered  to 
know.  All  time  is  gathered  up  together  :  all  the 
centuries  crowd  her  breast  and  torture  it ;  the  end- 

251 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Tanta  patet  rerum  series,  atque  omne  futurum 

Nititur  in  lucem,  vocemque  petentia  fata  180 

Luctantur ;  non  prima  dies,  non  ultima  mundi, 

Non  modus  Oceani,  numerus  non  derat  harenae. 

Qualis  in  Euboico  vates  Cumana  recessu, 

Indignata  suum  multis  servire  furorem 

Gentibus,  ex  tanta  fatorum  strage  superba  185 

Excerpsit  Romana  manu,  sic  plena  laborat 

Phemonoe  Phoebo,  dum  te,  consultor  operti 

Castalia  tellure  dei,  vix  invenit,  Appi, 

Inter  fata  diu  quaerens  tarn  magna  latenteni. 

Spumea  tunc  primum  rabies  vaesana  per  ora  190 

Etfluit  et  gemitus  et  anhelo  clara  meatu 

Murmura,  tum  maestus  vastis  ululatus  in  antris 

Extremaeque  sonant  domita  iam  virgine  voces  : 

'*  EfFugis  ingentes,  tanti  discriminis  expers, 

Bellorum,  Romane,  minas,  sol  usque  quietem  195 

Euboici  vasta  lateris  convalle  tenebis." 

Cetera  suppressit  faucesque  obstruxit  Apollo. 

Custodes  tripodes  fatorum  arcanaque  mundi 
Tuque  potens  veri  Paean  nullumque  futuri 
A  superis  celate  diem,  suprema  ruentis  200 

Imperii  caesosque  duces  et  funera  regum 
Et  tot  in  Hesperio  conlapsas  sanguine  gentes 
Cur  aperire  times  ?  an  nondum  numina  tantum 
Decrevere  nefas  et  adhuc  dubitantibus  astris 
Pompei  damnare  caput  tot  fata  tenentur  ?  205 


^  Cumae   in   Campania  was   founded    by  Chalcidians   from 
Euboea. 

2  Appius  died  in  Euboea  and  was  buried  there. 

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BOOK   V 

less  cliain  of  events  is  revealed  ;  all  the  future 
struggles  to  the  light ;  destiny  contends  with 
destiny,  seeking  to  be  uttered.  The  creation  of  the 
world  and  its  destruction,  the  compass  of  the  Ocean 
and  the  sum  of  the  sands — all  these  are  before  her. 
Even  as  the  Sibyl  of  Cumae  ^  in  her  Euboean  cave, 
resenting  that  her  inspiration  should  be  at  the 
service  of  many  nations,  chose  among  them  with 
haughty  hand  and  picked  out  from  the  great  heap 
of  destiny  the  fate  of  Rome,  so  Phemonoe,  possessed 
by  Phoebus,  was  troubled  and  sought  long  ere  she 
found  the  name  of  Appius  concealed  among  the 
names  of  mightier  men — Appius,  who  came  to  ques- 
tion the  god  hidden  in  the  land  of  Castalia.  When 
she  found  it,  first  the  wild  frenzy  overflowed  through 
her  foaming  lips ;  she  groaned  and  uttered  loud 
inarticulate  cries  with  panting  breath ;  next,  a 
dismal  wailing  filled  the  vast  cave ;  and  at  last, 
when  she  was  mastered,  came  the  sound  of  articulate 
speech  :  "  Roman,  thou  shalt  have  no  part  in  the 
mighty  ordeal  and  shalt  escape  the  awful  threats 
of  war ;  and  thou  alone  shalt  stay  at  peace  ^  in  a 
broad  hollow  of  the  Euboean  coast."  Then  Apollo 
closed  up  her  throat  and  cut  short  her  tale. 

Ye  oracles  that  watch  over  destiny,  ye  mysteries 
of  the  universe,  and  thou,  O  Paean,  master  of  truth 
from  whom  no  day  of  future  time  is  hidden  by  the 
gods,  why  is  it  that  thou  dreadest  to  reveal  the  last 
phase  in  the  collapse  of  empire,  the  fall  of  captains 
and  deaths  of  kings,  and  the  destruction  of  so  many 
nations  in  the  carnage  of  Italy  ?  Have  the  gods  not 
yet  resolved  on  so  great  a  crime,  and,  because  the 
stars  still  hesitate  to  doom  Pompey  to  death,  is  the 
fate  of  many  held  in  suspense  ?     Or  is  this  the  object 

*53^ 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Vindicis  an  gladii  facinus  poenasque  furorum 

Regnaque  ad  ultores  iterum  redeuntia  Brutos 

Ut  peragat  fortuna,  taces  ?     Turn  pectore  vatis 

Inpactae  cessere  fores,  expulsaque  templis 

Prosiluit ;  perstat  rabies,  nee  cuncta  locutae  210 

Quem  non  emisit  superest  deus.     Ilia  feroces 

Torquet  adhue  oculos  totoque  vagantia  caelo 

Lumina,  nunc  voltu  pavido,  nunc  torva  minaci ; 

Stat  numquam  facies  ;  rubor  igneus  inficit  ora 

Liventesque  genas ;  nee,  qui  solet  esse  timenti,  216 

Terribilis  sed  pallor  incst  nee  fessa  quiescunt 

Corda,  sed,  ut  tumidus  Boreae  post  flamina  pontus 

Rauca  gemit,  sic  muta  levant  suspiria  vatem. 

Dumque  a  luce  sacra,  qua  vidit  fata,  refertur 

Ad  volgare  iubar,  mediae  venere  tenebrae.  220 

Inmisit  Stygiam  Paean  in  viscera  Lethen, 

Quae  raperet  secreta  deum.     Turn  pectore  verum 

Fugit,  et  ad  Phoebi  tripodas  rediere  futura, 

Vixque  refecta  cadit.     Nee  te  vicinia  leti 

Territat  ambiguis  frustratum  sortibus,  Appi ;  226 

lure  sed  incerto  mundi  subsidere  regnum 

Chalcidos  Euboicae  vana  spe  rapte  parabas. 

Heu  demens  !   nullum  belli  sentire  fragorem, 

Tot  mundi  caruisse  malis,  praestare  deorum 

Excepta  quis  Morte  potest  ?      Secreta  tenebis  230 

Litoris  Euboici  memorando  condite  busto. 

Qua  maris  angustat  fauces  saxosa  Carystos 

*  The  reference  is  to  Caesar's  murder,  which  might,  if 
foretold,  be  frustrated. 

2  Here  and  often  "darkness"  has  the  sense  of  "uncon- 
sciousness "  :  comp.  iii.  735. 

254 


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of  thy  silence — that  Fortune  may  carry  through  the 
heroic  deed  of  the  avenging  sword,  that  mad  ambition 
may  be  punished,  and  that  tyranny  may  meet  once 
more  the  vengeance  of  a  Brutus  ?  ^ — Now  the  doors 
gave  way  when  the  priestess  dashed  her  breast 
against  them,  and  forth  she  rushed,  driven  from  the 
temple.  The  frenzy  abides  ;  and  the  god,  whom  she 
has  not  shaken  off,  still  controls  her,  since  she  has 
not  told  all  her  tale.  She  still  rolls  wild  eyes,  and  eye- 
balls that  roam  over  all  the  sky  ;  her  features  are  never 
quiet,  now  showing  fear,  and  now  grim  with  menacing 
aspect ;  a  fiery  flush  dyes  her  face  and  the  leaden  hue 
of  her  cheeks  ;  her  paleness  is  unlike  that  of  fear  but 
inspires  fear ;  her  heart  finds  no  rest  after  its  labour  ; 
and,  as  the  swollen  sea  moans  hoarsely  when  the 
North  wind  has  ceased  to  blow,  so  voiceless  sighs 
still  heave  her  breast.  While  she  was  returning 
to  the  common  light  of  day  from  the  divine  radiance 
in  which  she  had  seen  the  future,  a  darkness  ^ 
intervened.  For  Apollo  poured  Stygian  Lethe  into 
her  inward  parts,  to  snatch  the  secrets  of  heaven 
from  her.  Then  the  truth  vanished  from  her  bosom, 
and  knowledge  of  the  future  went  back  to  the 
tripods  of  the  god ;  and  down  she  fell,  recovering 
with  difficulty.  But  Appius,  deceived  by  a  riddling 
oracle,  was  not  alarmed  by  the  nearness  of  death  : 
urged  by  vain  hope,  he  was  eager  to  take  possession 
of  a  domain  at  Chalcis  in  Euboea,  while  the  lordship 
over  the  world  was  still  unsettled.  Madman  !  what 
deity  save  Death  alone  can  assure  to  a  man  that  he 
will  feel  no  crash  of  warfare  and  escape  such  world- 
wide suffering  }  Laid  in  a  memorable  tomb,  you  shall 
occupy  a  sequestered  spot  on  the  shore  of  Euboea, 
where  a  gorge  of  the  sea  is  narrowed  by  the  quarries 

255 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Et,  tumidis  infesta  colit  quae  numina^  Rhamnus, 
Artatus  rapido  fervet  qua  gurgite  pontus, 
Euripusque  trahit,  cursum  mutantibus  undis,  23f 

Chalcidicas  puppes  ad  iniquam  classibus  Aulin. 

Interea  domitis  Caesar  remeabat  Hiberis 
Victrices  aquilas  alium  laturus  in  orbem, 
Cum  prope  fatorum  tantos  per  prospera  cursus 
Avertere  dei.     Nullo  nam  Marte  subactus  240 

Intra  castrorum  timuit  tentoria  ductor 
Perdere  successus  scelerum,  cum  paene  fideles 
Per  tot  bella  manus  satiatae  sanguine  tandem 
Destituere  ducem,  seu  maesto  classica  paulura 
Intermissa  sono  claususque  et  frigidus  ensis  246 

Expulerat  belli  furias,  seu,  praemia  miles 
Dum  maiora  petit,  damnat  eausamque  ducemque 
Et  seel  ere  inbutos  etiamnunc  venditat  enses. 
Haud  magis  expertus  discrimine  Caesar  in  ullo  est, 
Quam  non  e  stabili  tremulo  sed  culmine  cuncta  250 

Despiceret  staretque  super  titubantia  fultus. 
Tot  raptis  truncus  manibus  gladioque  relictus 
Paene  suo,  qui  tot  gentes  in  bella  trahebat, 
Scit  non  esse  duels  strictos  sed  militis  enses. 
Non  pavidum  iam  murmur  erat,  nee  pectore  tecto      266 
Ira  latens  ;  nam  quae  dubias  constringere  mentes 
Causa  solet,  dum  quisque  pavet,  quibus  ipse  timori  est, 
Seque  putat  solum  regnorum  iniusta  gravari, 
Haud  retinet.     Quippe  ipsa  metus  exsolverat  audax 


^  Nemesis. 

'  His  fellow-soldiers. 


256 


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of  Carystos  and  by  Rhamnus  that  worships  a  goddess* 
wlio  hates  the  proud ;  there  the  sea  boils  in  the 
narrows  with  rushing  waters,  and  there  the  Euripus 
with  irregular  current  carries  the  ships  of  Chalcis  to 
Aulis  unkind  to  fleets. 

Meanwhile  Caesar  was  returning  triumphant  over 
conquered  Spain  to  carry  into  a  new  world  his 
victorious  eagles,  when  the  flowing  tide  of  his 
successes  was  almost  turned  aside  by  Heaven.  For, 
unsubdued  in  the  field,  the  general  feared,  within 
the  tents  of  his  camp,  to  lose  the  fruits  of  crime, 
when  those  troops  that  had  been  faithful  through  so 
many  wars,  sated  at  last  with  blood,  came  near  to 
forsaking  him.  Was  it  perhaps  the  brief  lull  in  the 
trumpet's  dismal  note,  and  the  cooling  of  the  sword 
in  its  sheath,  that  had  cast  out  the  evil  spirit  of 
war?  Or  was  it  greed  for  greater  rewards  that 
made  the  soldiers  repudiate  their  cause  and  their 
leader,  and  again  put  up  for  sale  the  swords  already 
stained  with  guilt.''  In  no  peril  was  Caesar  more 
clearly  taught  how  insecure  and  even  tottering  was 
the  eminence  from  which  he  looked  down  on  the 
world,  and  how  the  ground  he  stood  on  quaked 
beneath  him.  Maimed  by  the  loss  of  so  many  hands, 
and  almost  left  to  the  protection  of  his  own  weapon, 
he,  who  was  dragging  to  war  so  many  nations, 
learned  that  the  sword,  once  drawn,  belongs  to 
the  soldier  and  not  to  the  general.  There  was  an 
end  of  timid  muttering,  an  end  of  anger  hidden  in 
the  secret  heart ;  for  what  often  binds  a  wavering 
allegiance — that  each  fears  those  ^  to  whom  he  him- 
self is  a  terror,  and  each  thinks  that  he  alone  resents 
the  injustice  of  oppression — that  motive  had  lost  its 
hold.     For  their  mere  numbers  had  dispelled  their 

^57 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Turba  suos  :  quidquid  multis  peccatur  inultum  est.     260 

Effudere  minas  :  "  Liceat  discedere,  Caesar, 

A  rabie  scelenam.     Quaeris  terraque  marique 

His  ferrum  iugulis,  animasque  effundere  viles 

Quolibet  hoste  paras  :  partem  tibi  Gallia  nostri 

Eripuit,  partem  duris  Hispania  bellis,  265 

Pars  iacet  Hesperia,  to  toque  exercitus  orbe 

Te  vincente  perit.     Terris  fudisse  cruorem 

Quid  iuvat  Arctois  Rhodano  Rhenoque  subactis? 

Tot  mihi  pro  bellis  bellum  civile  dedisti. 

Cepimus  expulso  patriae  cum  tecta  senatu,  270 

Quos  hominum  vel  quos  licuit  spoliare  deorum  ?  • 

Imus  in  omne  nefas  manibus  ferroque  nocentes, 

Paupertate  pii.     Finis  quis  quaeritur  armis? 

Quid  satis  est,  si  Roma  parum  est  ?  iam  respice  canos, 

Invalidasque  manus  et  inanes  cerne  lacertos.  275 

Usus  abit  vitae,  bellis  consumpsimus  aevum : 

Ad  mortem  dimitte  senes.     En  inproba  vota: 

Non  duro  liceat  morientia  caespite  membra 

Ponere,  non  anima  galeam  fugiente  ferire 

Atque  oculos  morti  clausuram  quaerere  dextram,         280 

Coniugis  inlabi  lacrimis,  unique  paratum 

Scire  rogum ;  liceat  morbis  finire  senectam  ; 

Sit  praeter  gladios  aliquod  sub  Caesare  fatum. 

Quid  velut  ignaros  ad  quae  portenta  paremur 

Spe  trahis ;  usque  adeo  soli  civilibus  armis  285 

1  It  is  surprising  that  Lucan  allowed  this  tribute  to  Caesar 
to  remain  in  his  poem. 


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fears  and  made  them  bold  :  the  sin  of  thousands 
always  goes  unpunished.  Thus  they  poured  forth 
their  threats :  "  Give  us  leave,  Caesar,  to  depart 
from  the  madness  of  civil  war.  You  search  over 
land  and  sea  for  swords  to  pierce  our  hearts,  and  you 
are  ready  to  spill  our  worthless  lives  by  the  hand  of 
any  foe.  Some  of  us  were  snatched  from  you  by  Gaul, 
others  by  the  hard  campaigns  in  Spain  ;  others  lie  in 
Italy ;  over  all  the  world  you  are  victorious  and  your 
soldiers  die.  What  boots  it  to  have  shed  our  blood 
in  Northern  lands,  where  we  conquered  the  Rhone 
and  the  Rhine  ?  As  a  reward  for  so  many  campaigns 
you  have  given  me  civil  war.  When  we  drove  forth 
the  Senate  and  captured  our  native  city,  what  men 
or  what  gods  did  you  suffer  us  to  rob .''  ^  As  we  go 
on  to  every  crime,  though  our  hands  and  swords  are 
guilty,  our  poverty  absolves  us.  What  limit  of  war- 
fare do  you  seek  ?  What  will  satisfy  you  if  Rome  is 
not  enough  ?  Consider  at  last  our  grey  hairs ;  be- 
hold our  enfeebled  hands  and  wasted  arms.  We 
have  lost  the  enjoyment  of  life,  we  have  spent  all 
our  days  in  fighting.  Now  that  we  are  old,  disband 
us  to  die.  See  how  extravagant  are  our  demands ! 
Save  us  from  laying  our  dying  limbs  on  the  hard 
rampart  of  the  camp,  from  breathing  out  our 
last  breath  against  the  bars  of  the  helmet,  and 
from  looking  in  vain  for  a  hand  to  close  our  dying 
eyes ;  and  suffer  us  to  sink  into  the  arms  of  a  weep- 
ing wife,  and  to  know  that  the  pyre  stands  ready  for 
one  corpse  alone.  Suffer  us  to  end  our  old  age  by 
sickness ;  let  not  death  by  the  sword  be  the  only 
end  for  Caesar's  soldiers.  Why  do  you  lure  us  on 
with  promises,  as  if  we  did  not  know  the  horrors  of 
which  we  are  to  be  the  instruments  ?     Are  we  the 

259 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Nescimus,  cuius  sceleris  sit  maxima  merces? 

Nil  actum  est  bellis,  si  nondum  conperit  istas 

Omnia  posse  raanus.     Nee  fas  nee  vincula  iuris 

Hoc  audere  vetant :  Rheni  mihi  Caesar  in  undis 

Dux  erat,  hie  socius ;  facinus,  quos  inquinat,  aequat.  290 

Adde  quod  ingrato  meritorum  iudice  virtus 

Nostra  perit :  quidquid  gerimus,  fortuna  vocatur. 

Nos  fatum  sciat  esse  suum.     Licet  omne  deorum 

Obsequium  speres,  irato  milite,  Caesar^ 

Pax  erit."      Haec  fatus  totis  discurrere  castris  295 

Coeperat  infestoque  ducem  deposcere  voltu. 

Sic  eat,  o  superi :  quando  pietasque  fidesque 

Destituunt  moresque  malos  sperare  relictum  est, 

Finem  civili  faciat  discordia  bello. 

Quem  non  ille  ducem  potuit  terrere  tumultus  ?       300 
Fata  sed  in  praeceps  solitus  demittere  Caesar 
Fortunamque  suam  per  summa  pericula  gaudens 
Exercere  venit ;  nee  dum  desaeviat  ira 
Expectat ;  medios  properat  temptare  furores. 
Non  illis  urbes  spoliandaque  templa  negasset  305 

Tarpeiamque  lovis  sedem  matresque  senatus 
Passurasque  infanda  nurus.      Vult  omnia  certe 
A  se  saeva  peti,  vult  praemia  Martis  amari ; 
Militis  indomiti  tantum  mens  sana  timetur. 
Non  pudet,  heu  !     Caesar,  soli  tibi  bella  placere  310 

lanl  manibus  damnata  tuis  ?  hos  ante  pigebit 

^  The  murder  of  Caesar  himself  is  meant. 
260 


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only  combatants  in  civil  war  who  are  ignorant  what 
crime  ^  earns  the  richest  reward  ?  All  our  fighting 
has  been  in  vain  if  Caesar  has  yet  to  learn  that  our 
hands  stick  at  nothing.  Neither  our  oath  nor  the 
bonds  of  law  forbid  us  to  be  thus  bold.  Though 
Caesar  was  my  general  on  the  banks  of  the  Rhine, 
he  is  my  comrade  here ;  crime  levels  those  whom  it 
pollutes.  Besides,  our  valour  is  wasted,  since  the 
judge  of  merit  is  ungrateful ;  all  our  achievements 
are  called  good  luck.  Let  Caesar  learn  that  we  are 
his  destiny ;  though  he  hope  for  entire  compliance 
from  the  gods,  yet  the  anger  of  his  soldiers  will  bring 
peace."  Thus  they  spoke  and  began  to  run  to  and 
fro  about  the  camp,  and  to  demand  their  general  with 
fury  in  their  faces.  So  be  it,  ye  gods !  Since  duty 
and  loyalty  are  no  more  and  our  only  remaining 
hope  is  in  wickedness,  let  mutiny  make  an  end  of 
civil  war. 

Such  an  uproar  might  have  terrified  any  general ; 
but  Caesar  was  accustomed  to  stake  his  fortune  upon 
desperate  measures,  and  glad  to  put  it  to  the  proof 
in  utmost  risks ;  he  came,  without  waiting  till  their 
rage  should  die  down,  and  hastened  to  defy  their 
fury  at  its  height.  Unforbidden  by  him,  they  might 
have  sacked  cities  and  temples,  even  the  Tarpeian 
sanctuary  of  Jupiter ;  they  might  have  inflicted 
unspeakable  outrage  on  the  mothers  and  daughters 
of  senators  ;  he  wished  undoubtedly  that  they  should 
demand  of  him  leave  for  all  atrocities,  he  wished 
that  the  rewards  of  war  should  be  coveted ;  he 
dreaded  one  prospect  only — that  his  fierce  soldiers 
might  return  to  their  senses.  Do  you  not  blush, 
Caesar,  that  you  alone  find  pleasure  in  war  which 
your  instruments  have  already  condemned?     Shall 

i6i 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Sanguinis  ?  his  ferri  grave  ius  erit,  ipse  per  omne 

Fasque  nefasque  rues  ?  lassare  et  disce  sine  armis 

Posse  pati ;  liceat  scelerum  tibi  ponere  finem. 

Saeve,  quid  insequeris  ?  quid  iam  nolentibus  instas  ?  316 

Bellum  te  civile  fugit.     Stetit  aggere  fulti 

Caespitis  intrepidus  voltu  meruitque  timeri 

Non  metuens,  atque  haec  ira  dictnnte  profatur : 

"Qui  modo  in  absentem  voltu  dextraque  furebas, 

Miles,  habes  nudum  promptumque  ad  volnera  pectus. 

Hie  fuge,  si  belli  finis  placet,  ense  relicto.  321 

Detegit  inbelles  animas  nil  fortiter  ausa 

Seditio  tantumque  fugam  meditata  iuventus 

Ac  ducis  invicti  rebus  lassata  secundis. 

Vadite  meque  meis  ad  bella  relinquite  fatis.  325 

Invenient  haec  arma  manus,  vobisque  repulsis 

Tot  reddet  Fortuna  viros,  quot  tela  vacabunt. 

Anne  fugam  Magni  tanta  cum  classe  secuntur 

Hesperiae  gentes,  nobis  victoria  turbam 

Non  dabit,  inpulsi  tantum  quae  praemia  belli  330 

Auferat  et  vestri  rapta  mercede  laboris  1 

Lauriferos  nullo  comitetur  volnere  currus  ? 

Vos  despecta,  senes,  exhaustaque  sanguine  turba 

Cernetis  nostros  iam  plebs  Romana  triumphos. 

Caesaris  an  cursus  vestrae  sentire  putatis  335 

Damnum  posse  fugae  ?  veluti,  si  cuncta  minentur 

Flumina  quos  miscent  pelago  subducere  fontes, 

Non  magis  ablatis  umquam  descenderit  aequor. 


:t62 


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tliey,  sooner  than  you,  sicken  of  bloodshed  and  resent 
the  tyranny  of  the  sword,  while  you  rush  on  through 
right  and  wrong  withoirt  limit  ?  Grow  weary  ;  learn 
to  find  life  endurable  without  fighting ;  suffer  your- 
self to  set  a  limit  to  wickedness.  Why  this  ruthless 
pressure,  this  compulsion  of  men  who  have  lost  the 
will  to  fight?  Civil  war  is  slipping  out  of  your 
grasp. — He  took  his  stand  on  a  mound  of  turf  piled 
high  ;  his  countenance  was  undismayed,  and  his  own 
fearlessness  justly  inspired  fear  in  others.  Anger 
prompted  the  words  he  spoke  :  "  Soldiers,  who  lately 
raged  against  an  absent  man,  with  fury  in  your  faces 
and  gestures,  here  is  my  breast  bare  and  ready  for 
your  stabs.  Plant  here  your  swords  and  fly,  if  you 
wish  to  end  the  war.  That  you  have  no  stomach 
for  fighting  is  revealed ;  for  your  mutiny  ends  in 
words ;  you  are  warriors  whose  only  purpose  is 
flight ;  your  leader's  victories  have  known  no  check, 
and  yet  you  have  had  enough.  Begone !  leave  me 
to  my  own  fortune  to  carry  on  war.  These  swords 
will  find  hands  to  hold  them  ;  and  when  I  have  dis- 
carded you.  Fortune  will  give  me  in  exchange  a 
brave  man  for  every  unused  weapon.  If  Pompey,  in 
flight,  is  followed  by  a  mighty  fleet  and  the  peoples 
of  Italy,  shall  not  victory  give  me  a  host,  merely  to 
carry  off  the  prizes  of  a  war  already  decided,  to 
snatch  the  reward  of  your  hardships,  and  to  walk 
unwounded  by  my  laurelled  car,  while  you,  a  despised 
mob,  old  men  drained  of  blood,  sunk  to  be  the  rabble 
of  Rome,  will  watch  us  triumph  ?  Think  you  that 
Caesar's  career  can  feel  the  loss  of  your  desertion  ? 
*Tis  as  if  all  the  rivers  threatened  to  withdraw  the 
waters  they  mingle  with  the  sea :  if  those  waters 
were  removed,  the  sea-level  would  not  fall  any  more 

263 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quam  nunc  crescit,  aquis.     An  vos  momenta  putatis 

Ulla  dedisse  mihi  ?  nximquam  sic  cura  deorum  340 

Se  premet,  ut  vestrae  morti  vestraeque  saluti 

Fata  vacent ;  procerum  motus  haec  cuncta  seciintur : 

Humanum  paucis  vivit  genus.     Orbis  Hiberi 

Horror  et  arctoi  nostro  sub  nomine  miles, 

Pompeio  certe  fugeres  duce.     Fortis  in  armis  315 

Caesareis  Labienus  erat;  nunc  transfuga  vilis 

Cum  duce  praelato  terras  atque  aequora  lustrat. 

Nee  melior  mihi  vestra  fides,  si  bella  nee  hoste 

Nee  duce  me  geritis.      Quisquis  mea  signa  relinquens 

Non  Pompeianis  tradit  sua  partibus  arma,  350 

Hie  numquam  vult  esse  meus.     Sunt  ista  profecto 

Curae  castra  deis,  qui  me  conimittere  tantis 

Non  nisi  mutato  voluerunt  milite  bellis. 

Heu,  quantum  Fortuna  umeris  iam  pondere  fessis 

Amolitur  onus  !  sperantes  omnia  dextras  355 

Exarmare  datur,  quibus  hie  non  sufficit  orbis : 

lam  certe  mihi  bella  geram.     Discedite  castris, 

Tradite  nostra  viris  ignavi  signa  Quirites. 

At  paucos,  quibus  haec  rabies  auctoribus  arsit, 

Non  Caesar  sed  poena  tenet.      Procumbite  terra  360 

Infidumque  caput  feriendaque  tendite  coUa. 

Et  tu,  quo  solo  stabunt  iam  robore  castra. 

Tiro  rudis,  specta  poenas  et  disce  ferire, 

Disce  mori."     Tremuit  saeva  sub  voce  minantis 

*  To  address  soldiers  as  Quirites  ia  equivalent  to  disbanding 
^henu  

?64 


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than  now  their  presence  raises  it.  Think  you  that 
you  have  ever  turned  the  scale  in  my  favour  ?  Provi- 
dence will  never  stoop  so  low  that  fate  can  attend 
to  the  life  and  death  of  such  as  you.  All  these 
events  depend  upon  the  actions  of  the  leaders ;  it  is 
for  the  sake  of  a  few  that  mankind  in  general  lives. 
While  you  bore  the  name  of  Caesar,  you  were  the 
terror  of  the  Spanish  world,  and  of  the  North  ;  but, 
had  Pompey  led  you,  you  would  certainly  have  fled. 
Labienus  was  eminent  in  war  while  he  bore  my 
arms ;  now,  a  despised  deserter,  he  hurries  over  land 
and  sea  with  the  leader  whom  he  preferred  to  me. 
I  shall  think  no  better  of  your  loyalty  if  you  fight 
neither  for  me  nor  against  me.  If  any  man  leaves 
my  standards  without  offering  his  sword  to  Pompey's 
faction,  he  desires  never  to  be  mine.  This  camp  is 
beyond  doubt  favoured  by  heaven ;  for  the  gods 
designed  that  I  should  change  my  soldiers  before 
embarking  on  such  great  wars.  Ah  !  how  great  a 
burden  Fortune  is  lifting  now  from  shoulders  that 
are  already  overweighted!  I  have  the  chance  to 
disband  men  whose  greed  is  unbounded,  and  for 
whom  the  world  is  not  enough.  Henceforward  at 
least  I  shall  fight  battles  to  please  myself.  Begone 
from  the  camp  and  surrender  my  standards  to  men, 
ye  cowards  and  civilians !  ^  Those  few,  at  whose 
instigation  this  madness  broke  out,  are  detained  here 
not  by  their  general  but  by  their  punishment. 
Down  with  you  upon  the  ground,  and  stretch  out  for 
the  axe  your  traitorous  heads  and  necks  I  And  you 
raw  recruits,  who  alone  will  form  the  backbone  of  the 
army  in  future,  watch  their  execution,  and  learn 
how  to  slay  and  to  be  slain." — The  spiritless  mob 
cowered  before  his  fierce  and  menacing  words  ;  and 

«65 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Volgus  iners,  unumque  caput  tarn  magna  iuventus      365 

Privatum  factura  timet,  velut  ensibus  ipsis 

Imperet  invito  moturus  milite  ferrum. 

Ipse  pavet,  ne  tela  sibi  dextraeque  negentur 

Ad  scelus  hoc,  Caesar :  vicit  patientia  saevi 

Spem  ducis,  et  iugulos  non  tantum  praestitit  enses.    370 

Nil  magis  adsuetas  sceleri  quam  perdere  mentes 

Atque  perire  tenet.     Tam  diri  foederis  ictu 

Parta  quies,  poenaque  redit  placata  iuventus. 

Brundisium  decimis  iubet  banc  attingere  castris 
Et  cunctas  revocare  rates,  quas  avius  Hydrus  376 

Antiquusque  Taras  secretaque  litora  Leucae, 
Quas  recipit  Salapina  palus  et  subdita  Sipus 
Montibus,  Ausoniam  qua  torquens  frugifer  oram 
Delmatico  Boreae  Calabroque  obnoxius  Austro 
Apulus  Hadriacas  exit  Garganus  in  undas.  380 

Ipse  petit  trepidam  tutus  sine  milite  Romam 
lam  doctam  servire  togae,  populoque  precanti 
Scilicet  indulgens  summo  dictator  honori 
Contigit  et  laetos  fecit  se  consule  fastos. 
Namque  omnes  voces,  per  quas  iam  tempore  tanto     385 
Mentimur  dominis,  haec  priraum  repperit  aetas. 
Qua,  sibi  ne  ferri  ius  ullum,  Caesar,  abesset, 
Ausonias  voluit  gladiis  miscere  secures, 
Addidit  et  fasces  aquilis  et  nomen  inane 
Imperii  rapiens  signavit  tempora  digna  390 


*  Now  Otranto. 

2  Lit.  '*a  dictator  was  vouchsafed  to  the  highest  office,"  i.e. 
Caesar,  being  dictator,  conferred  honour  on  the  consulship  by 
accepting  it, 

266 


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the  great  army  feared  a  single  man  whom  they 
could  have  stripped  of  his  command,  as  if  he  could 
control  their  very  swords  and  make  the  steel  obey 
him  when  the  men  refused  obedience.  Caesar  him- 
self dreaded  that  weapons  and  hands  would  be 
refused  him  for  the  performance  of  this  crime ;  but 
they  put  up  with  more  than  their  cruel  commander 
thought  possible,  and  })rovided  not  only  executioners 
but  the  victims  also.  Between  hearts  inured  to  crime 
there  is  no  stronger  bond  than  inflicting  and  enduring 
death.  Order  was  restored  by  the  conclusion  of  this 
dreadful  pact,  and  the  men  returned  to  their  duty : 
the  execution  had  settled  their  grievances. 

They  receive  orders  to  reach  Brundisium  in  nine 
days'  march,  and  to  summon  thither  all  vessels  that 
find  harbour  in  remote  Hydrus  ^  or  ancient  Tarentum 
or  the  sequestered  shore  of  Leuca  or  in  the  Sala- 
pinian  pool  and  Sipus  beneath  the  hills,  where 
Garganus  curves  the  Italian  coast  with  its  oak-woods, 
and  meets  the  North  wind  from  Dalmatia  and  the 
South  wind  from  Calabria,  as  it  juts  out  from  Apulia 
into  the  waters  of  the  Adriatic.  Caesar  himself,  safe 
without  his  army,  hastened  to  terrified  Rome ;  she 
had  learned  by  now  to  obey  him  even  when  he  wore 
the  garb  of  peace.  Yielding  forsooth  to  the  people's 
prayer,  a  dictator  was  added  to  the  list  of  consuls,^ 
and  Caesar,  by  his  consulship,  made  glad  the 
Calendar.  For  that  age  invented  all  the  lying  titles 
that  we  have  used  so  long  to  our  masters — that  age 
in  which  Caesar,  that  he  might  grasp  every  right  to 
use  the  sword,  desired  to  combine  the  Roman  axes 
with  his  blades  and  add  the  fasces  to  his  eagles. 
Snatching  at  the  empty  name  of  legal  office,  he  set 
a  fitting  mark  upon  that  time  of  sorrow ;  for  what 

267 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Maesta  nota  ;  nam  quo  melius  Pharsalicus  annus 

Consule  notus  erit  ?     Fingit  soUemnia  Campus 

Et  non  admissae  dirimit  suffragia  plebis 

Decantatque  tribus  et  vana  versat  in  urna. 

Nee  caelum  servare  licet :  tonat  augure  surdo,  395 

Et  laetae  iurantur  aves  bubone  sinistro. 

Inde  perit  primum  quondam  veneranda  potestas 

luris  inops ;  tantum  careat  ne  nomine  tenipus, 

Menstruus  in  fastos  distinguit  saecula  consul. 

Nee  non  Iliacae  numen  quod  praesidet  Albae,  400 

Haud  meritum  Latio  soUemnia  sacra  subacto, 

Vidit  flammifera  confectas  nocte  Latinas. 

Inde  rapit  cursus  et,  quae  piger  Apulus  arva 
Deseruit  rastris  et  inerti  tradidit  herbae, 
Ocior  et  caeli  flammis  et  tigride  feta  405 

Transcurrit,  curvique  tenens  Minoia  tecta 
Brundisii  clausas  ventis  brumalibus  undas 
Invenit  et  pavidas  hiberno  sidere  classes. 
Turpe  duci  visum,  rapiendi  tempora  belli 
In  segnes  exisse  moras,  portuque  teneri  410 

Dum  pateat  tutum  vel  non  felicibus  aequor. 
Expertes  animos  pelagi  sic  robore  couplet : 
"  Fortius  hiberni  flatus  caelumque  fretumque. 
Cum  cepere,  tenent,  quam  quos  incumbere  certos 
Perfida  nubiferi  vetat  inconstantia  veris.  415 

Nee  maris  anfractus  lustrandaque  litora  nobis, 

*  Under  the  Republic,  an  augur  might  watch  the  sky  for 
unfavourable  omens,  such  as  might  hinder  an  election  being 
held. 

*  Lucan  exaggerates  here.  Under  the  Empire  it  became 
common  for  consuls  to  hold  office  for  less  than  a  year  ;  but 
during  48  B.C.  there  were  only  two  consuls — Caesar  and 
P.  Servilius  Vatia. 

'  Jupiter  Latiaria.  *  Owing  to  the  war. 

268 


BOOK   V 

consul  has  more  right  to  give  Ills  name  to  the  year  of 
Pharsalia?  The  Campus  sees  a  travesty  of  the 
annual  ceremonies :  the  people  are  exchided,  but 
their  votes  are  sorted,  the  names  of  the  tribes 
are  rehearsed,  and  a  pretence  is  made  of  shaking 
them  in  the  urn.  It  is  not  permitted  to  watch  the 
sky:^  it  thunders,  but  the  augur  is  deaf;  and  they 
swear  that  the  omens  are  favourable,  though  an  owl 
flies  on  the  left  hand.  Then  first  the  office  once  so 
venerable  lost  its  power  and  began  to  decay :  only, 
that  the  period  might  not  lack  a  name,  consuls 
appointed  from  month  to  month  ^  mark  off  the  years 
upon  the  record-roll.  Further,  the  god^  who 
presides  over  Trojan  Alba,  though,  when  Latium 
was  conquered,  he  had  ceased  to  deserve  his 
customary  rites,  witnessed  the  bonfire  at  night  that 
ends  the  Latin  festival. 

Hurrying  away  from  Rome,  Caesar,  swifter  than 
the  lightning  or  the  mother  tigress,  sped  over  the 
land  which  the  Apulians,  reduced  to  idleness,*  had 
ceased  to  till  with  rakes  and  surrendered  to  the 
weeds.  When  he  reached  the  Cretan  city  of  Brun- 
disium  on  its  bay,  he  found  the  sea  closed  by  winter 
storms  and  tiie  fleets  scared  by  the  weather  of  that 
season.  He  thought  it  shame  that  the  time  for 
hastening  the  war  to  a  close  had  ended  in  sloth  and 
idleness,  and  that  he  should  be  detained  in  harbour, 
till  others,  who  were  no  favourites  of  Fortune,  found 
the  sea  safe  and  open.  Thus  he  filled  with  confidence 
men  who  knew  naught  of  the  sea  :  "  When  the  gales 
of  winter  have  mastered  sky  and  sea,  they  keep  their 
hold  more  strongly  than  those  which  the  treacherous 
fickleness  of  rainy  spring  prevents  from  blowing 
steadily.     We  have  no  need  to  track  the  curves  of 

269 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Sed  recti  fluctus  soloque  Aquilone  secandi. 

Hie  utinam  summi  curvet  carchesia  mali 

Incumbatque  furens  et  Graia  ad  moenia  perflet, 

Ne  Pompeiani  Phaeacum  e  litore  toto  420 

Languida  iactatis  conprendant  carbasa  remis. 

Rumpite,  quae  retinent  felices  vincula  proras ; 

lamdudum  nubes  et  saevas  perdimus  undas." 

Sidera  prima  poli  Phoebo  laber.te  sub  undas 
Exierant,  et  luna  suas  iam  fecerat  umbras,  425 

Cum  pariter  solvere  rates  ;  totosque  rudentes 
Laxavere  sinus,  et  flexo  navita  cornu 
Obliquat  laevo  pede  carbasa  summaque  pandens 
Sipara  velorum  perituras  colligit  auras. 
Vix  ^  primum  levior  propellere  lintea  ventns  430 

Incipit  exiguumque  tument,  et  reddita  malo 
In  mediam  cecidere  ratem,  terraque  relicta 
Non  valet  ipsa  sequi  puppes  quae  vexerat  aura. 
Aequora  lenta  iacent,  alto  torpore  liga^ae 
Pigrius  inmotis  haesere  paludibus  undae.  435 

Sic  stat  iners  Scythicas  astringens  Bosporos  undas. 
Cum  glacie  retinente  fretum  non  inpulit  Hister^ 
Inmensumque  gelu  tegitur  mare  ;  conprimit  unda, 
Deprendit  quascumque  rates,  nee  pervia  velis 
Aequora  frangit  eques,  fluctuque  latente  sonantem     440 
Orbita  migrantis  scindit  Maeotida  Bessi. 
Saeva  quies  pelagi,  maestoque  ignava  profundo 
Stagna  iacentis  aquae;  veluti  deserta  regente 

1-  Vix  Housman  :    Ut  MSS. 


^  Corcyra. 

'  Caesar's  ships  were  merchant  ships,  which  depended  upon 
sails,  whereas  Ponipey's  warships  were  rowed. 
3  The  Sea  of  Azov. 

270 


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sea  and  shore ;  we  have  merely  to  cut  the  waves  in 
a  straight  line,  with  the  help  of  the  North  wind 
only.  May  it  blow  in  all  its  fury,  till  it  bends  the 
tops  of  our  masts,  and  drive  us  all  the  way  to  the 
cities  of  Greece  ;  else  Pompey's  sailors,  issuing  from 
all  the  coast  of  Phaeacia,^  may  overtake  our  flagging 
sails  by  the  stroke  of  their  oars.^  Cut  the  cables 
which  detain  our  victorious  prows ;  we  have  long 
been  wasting  the  chance  given  us  by  cloudy  skies 
and  angry  waves." 

The  sun  sank  beneath  the  sea,  the  first  stars  had 
come  out  in  the  sky,  and  the  moon  had  begun  to 
throw  shadows  of  her  own,  when  they  cast  loose 
their  ships  all  together.  The  ropes  shook  out  the 
sails  at  full  stretch ;  the  sailors  bent  the  yards  and 
slanted  the  canvas,  keeping  the  sheet  to  the  left, 
and  spread  the  high  topsails  to  catch  the  breeze 
that  would  otherwise  be  lost.  Hardly  had  the  light 
air  begun  to  drive  the  sails  till  they  puffed  out  a 
little,  when  they  fell  back  on  the  mast  and  drooped 
towards  the  centre  of  the  ship  ;  and,  when  land  was 
left  behind,  the  very  breeze  that  had  carried  them 
could  not  keep  pace  with  the  vessels.  The  sea  lay 
motionless  ;  chained  in  dead  calm,  the  waves  had 
less  movement  than  a  stagnant  pool. — Thus  the 
Bosporus  lies  idle  and  binds  the  Northern  Sea,  when 
the  Danube,  arrested  by  frost,  no  longer  urges 
on  the  deep,  and  the  vast  sea  is  covered  with  ice  ; 
the  water  holds  in  a  vice  every  ship  it  has  grasped ; 
the  rider  strikes  the  solid  floor  that  no  sail  may 
traverse  ;  and  the  wheel-track  of  the  Bessian  nomad 
furrows  the  Maeotian  mere,^  while  the  surge  groans 
beneath.  A  grim  stillness  broods  over  the  dismal 
deep;    and  the  sluggish  pools  of  the  flat  expanse 

271 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Aequora  natura  cessant,  pontusque  vetustas 

Oblitus  servare  vices  non  commeat  aestu,  445 

Non  horrore  tremit,  non  solis  imagine  vibrat. 

Casibus  innumeris  fixae  patuere  carinae. 

Illinc  infestae  classes  et  inertia  tonsis 

Aequora  moturae,  gravis  hinc  languore  profundi 

Obsessis  ventura  fames.     Nova  vota  timori  450 

Sunt  inventa  novo,  fluctus  nimiasque  precari 

Ventorum  vires,  dum  se  torpentibus  unda 

Excutiat  stagnis  et  sit  mare.     Nubila  nusquam 

Undarumque  minae ;  caelo  languente  fretoque 

Naufragii  spes  omnis  abit.     Sed  nocte  fugata  455 

Laesum  nube  dies  iubar  extulit  imaque  sensim 

Coneussit  pelagi  movitque  Ceraunia  nautis. 

[nde  rapi  coepere  rates  atque  aequora  classem 

Curva  sequi,  quae  iam  vento  fluctuque  secundo 

Lapsa  Palaestinas  uncis  confixit  harenas.  460 

Prima  duces  vidit  iunctis  consistere  castris 
Tellus,  quam  volucer  Genusus,  quam  mollior  Hapsus 
Circumeunt  ripis.     Hapso  gesture  carinas 
Causa  palus,  lent  quam  fallens  egerit  unda; 
At  Genusum  nunc  sole  nives,  nunc  imbre  solutae       4C5 
Praecipitant ;  neuter  longo  se  gurgite  lassat, 
Sed  minimum  terrae  vicino  litore  novit. 
Hoc  fortuna  loco  tantae  duo  nomina  famae 
272 


BOOK    V 

stand  idle ;  as  though  abandoned  by  the  natural 
force  that  governs  it,  the  sea  forgets  to  keep 
its  ancient  alternations,  and  is  not  moved  to  and 
fro  by  the  tides  ;  no  ripple  ruffles  it,  nor  does  it 
twinkle  with  any  reflection  of  the  sun. — Caesar's 
becalmed  ships  were  exposed  to  countless  dangers. 
On  one  side  were  the  hostile  vessels  that  might 
stir  the  sluggish  waters  with  their  oars ;  on  the 
other  was  the  dread  approach  of  famine,  while  they 
were  yet  beleaguered  by  the  calm.  New  prayers 
were  found  to  meet  the   new  danger — prayers  for 

Or  stormy  seas  and  violent  winds,  if  only  the  sea 
would  rouse  from  its  dead  stagnation  and  be  sea 
indeed.  But  no  clouds  nor  angry  waves  were  visible 
anywhere  :  the  stillness  of  sky  and  ocean  robbed 
them  of  all    hope   of  shipwreck.     When,  however, 

fei- darkness  was  dispelled,  day  lifted  up  the  sunlight 
obscured  by  cloud,  and  stirred  the  ocean  depths  by 
degrees,  and  brought  the  Ceraunian  mountains 
nearer  to  the  fleet.  Soon  the  ships  gathered  speed, 
and  the  breakers  followed  in  their  wake,  till  they 
sped  along  with  favouring  wind  and  tide  and 
grappled  with  their  anchor-flukes  the  sands  of 
Palaeste. 

The  first  place  that  saw  the  rivals  halt  and  pitch 
their  camps  side  by  side  was  the  land  which  the 
swift  Genusus  and  gentler  Hapsus  encompass  with 
their  banks.  The  Hapsus  is  made  navigable  by  a 
lake,  which  it  drains  imperceptibly  with  quiet  flow  ; 
but  the  Genusus  is  driven  fast  by  the  snows  thawed 
now  by  sun  and  now  by  rain ;  neither  river  is 
wearied  by  the  length  of  its  course  :  the  sea  is 
close,  and  they  know  little  of  the  land.  This  was 
the  place  where    Fortune    matched   two    names  of 

VOL.   I.  K 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Conposuit,  miserique  fuit  spes  inrita  mundi. 

Posse  duces  parva  campi  statione  diremptos  470 

Adrnotum  damnare  nefas  ;  nam  cernere  voltus 

Et  voces  audire  datur,  multosque  per  annos 

Dilectus  tibi,  Magne,  socer  post  pignora  tanta. 

Sanguinis  infausti  subolem  mortemque  nepotum, 

Te  nisi  Niliaca  propius  non  vidit  harena.  475 

Caesaris  attonitam  miscenda  ad  proelia  mentem 
Ferre  moras  scelerum  partes  iussere  relictae. 
Ductor  erat  cunctis  audax  Antonius  armis 
lam  turn  civili  meditatus  Leucada  bello. 
Ilium  saepe  minis  Caesar  precibusque  morantem         480 
Evocat :  "  O  mundo  tantorum  causa  laborum. 
Quid  superos  et  fata  tenes  ?  sunt  cetera  cursu 
Acta  meoj  summam  rapti  per  prospera  belli 
Te  poscit  fortuna  manum.     Non  rupta  vadosis 
Syrtibus  incerto  Libye  nos  dividit  aestu.  486 

Numquid  inexperto  tua  credimus  arma  profundo, 
Inque  novos  traheris  casus  ?  ignave,  venire 
Te  Caesar,  non  ire,  iubet.     Prior  ipse  per  hostes 
Percussi  medios  ^  alieni  iuris  harenas  : 
Tu  mea  castra  times  ?  pereuntia  tempora  fati  490 

Conqueror,  in  ventos  inpendo  vota  fretumque. 
Ne  retine  dubium  cupientes  ire  per  aequor ; 

*  medios  Ovdendorf:  raedias  MSS, 


*  Two  children  were  born  to  Pompey  and  Julia;  both  died 
in  earliest  infancy. 

. '  M.  Antonius,  a  member  of   the   Second   Triumvirate,    of 
43  B.C. 

*  Where  he  and  Cleopatra  fought  against  Augustus  and 
Rome;  and  Lucan  pretends  to  believe  that  Antony  was  now 
disloyal  to  Caesar. 

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such  high  renown;  but  the  sufTering  world  was 
disappointed  in  the  hope  that  the  rivals,  when 
parted  by  but  a  little  space  of  ground,  might  re- 
pudiate wickedness  thus  forced  upon  their  notice. 
For  each  could  see  the  other's  face  and  hear  his 
voice ;  and  the  father-in-law  whom  Magnus  had 
loved  for  many  years  never  but  once  had  a  nearer 
view  of  him  after  the  close  tie  was  broken  and 
when  the  grandchildren/  offspring  of  an  ill-starred 
union,  were  dead — and  that  once  was  on  the  sands 
of  the  Nile. 

Though  Caesar  was  frantic  to  join  battle,  he  was 
forced  to  endure  a  postponement  of  wicked  war  by 
the  partisans  he  had  left  in  Italy.  Bold  Antony,^ 
who  commanded  all  those  forces,  thus  early,  during 
the  civil  war,  was  plotting  an  Actium.^  Again  and 
again  Caesar  urged  him  to  haste  with  threats  and 
entreaties:  "On  you  lies  the  blame  for  the  sore 
troubles  that  afflict  mankind  ;  why  do  you  arrest 
the  course  of  destiny  and  the  will  of  Heaven  ?  All 
else  has  been  done  with  my  accustomed  speed,  and 
Fortune  now  demands  of  you  the  finishing  touch 
for  a  war  that  has  rushed  on  from  victory  to  victory. 
We  are  not  parted  by  the  shifting  tides  of  Libya — 
Libya  whose  coast  is  broken  by  the  shoals  of  the 
Syrtes.  Am  I  risking  your  army  on  a  sea  I  have 
not  tried,  or  drawing  you  into  dangers  unknown  ? 
Coward  !  Caesar  bids  you  come,  not  go.  •!  myself 
went  before  through  the  midst  of  the  enemy,  and 
my  prow  struck  a  shore  that  others  controlled ;  do 
you  fear  my  camp  ?  I  complain  that  you  waste  the 
hours  granted  by  destiny ;  1  spend  my  prayers  upon 
the  winds  and  waves.  Check  not  the  hearts  that 
are  eager  to  cross  the  treacherous  main  ;  the  soldiers, 

275 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Si  bene  nota  mihi  est,  ad  Caesaris  arma  iuventus 

Naufragio  venisse  volet.     lam  voce  doloris 

Utendum  est :  non  ex  aequo  divisimus  orbem:  495 

Epirum  Caesarque  tenet  totusque  senatus, 

Ausoniam  tu  solus  habes."     His  terque  quaterque 

Vocibus  excitum  postquam  cessare  videbat, 

Dum  se  desse  dels  ac  non  sibi  numina  credit, 

Sponte  per  incautas  audet  temptare  tenebras  600 

Quod  iussi  timuere  fretum,  temeraria  prono 

Expertus  cessisse  deo,  fluctusque  verendos 

Classibus  exigua  sperat  superare  carinaj^^ 

Solverat  armorum  fessas  nox  languida  curas, 
Parva  quies  miseris,  in  quorum  pectora  somno  505 

Dat  vires  fortuna  minor  ;  iam  castra  silebant, 
Tertia  iam  vigiles  commoverat  hora  secundos ; 
Caesar  soUicito  per  vasta  silentia  gressu 
Vix  famulis  audenda  parat,  cunctisque  relictis 
Sola  placet  Fortuna  comes.     Tentoria  postquam         510 
Egressus  vigilum  somno  cedentia  membra 
Transsiluit  questus  tacite,  quod  fallere  posset, 
Litora  curva  legit  primisque  invenit  in  undis 
Rupibus  exesis  haerentem  fune  carinam. 
Rectorem  dominumque  ratis  secura  tenebat  515 

Haud  procul  inde  domus,  non  ullo  robore  fulta 
Sed  sterili  iunco  cannaque  intexta  palustri 
Et  latus  inversa  nudum  munita  phaselo. 
Haec  Caesar  bis  terque  manu  quassantia  tectum 

*  Epirus  stands  for  the  East,  Italy  for  the  West. 

*  Whose  lives  were  worthless. 

276 


BOOK    V 

if  I  know  them,  will  be  willing  to  join  my  forces  at 
the  cost  of  shipwreck.  I  must  even  use  the  language 
of  resentment :  the  division  of  the  world  between 
us  is  unfair  :  Caesar  and  all  the  Senate  share  Epirus  ^ 
between  them,  while  you  keep  Italy  all  to  yourself.'* 
Again  and  again  he  summoned  Antony  forth  by 
these  appeals  ;  and,  when  he  saw  him  still  delay, 
believing  that  Heaven  was  more  true  to  him  than 
he  to  Heaven,  he  ventured  in  the  dangerous  dark- 
ness to  defy  the  sea,  thus  doing  of  his  own  accord 
what  others  had  feared  to  do  when  bidden.  He 
knew  by  experience  that  rashness  succeeds  when 
Heaven  favours,  and  hoped  to  surmount  in  a  little 
boat  the  waves  that  even  fleets  must  fear. 

Drowsy  night  had  relaxed  the  weary  toil  of  war 
— night,  a  brief  respite  to  the  wretches  over  whose 
breasts  their  humbler  estate  suffers  sleep  to  prevail ; 
there  was  silence  in  the  camp,  and  the  third  hour 
of  night  had  roused  the  second  watch.  Stepping 
anxiously  through  the  desolate  silence,  Caesar  pre- 
pares to  do  what  even  slaves  ^  hardly  could  dare  :  he 
left  all  behind  him  and  chose  Fortune  for  his  sole 
companion.  He  passed  outside  the  tents ;  he 
sprang  over  the  bodies  of  the  sleeping  sentries, 
vexed  within  himself  that  he  was  able  to  elude 
them  ;  he  traced  the  winding  shore  and  found  by 
the  edge  of  the  sea  a  boat  moored  by  a  rope  to 
the  hollowed  rocks.  The  skipper  and  owner  of  the 
boat  had  a  dwelling  not  far  away  that  gave  him 
shelter  and  safety  ;  no  timber  supported  it,  but 
it  was  wattled  with  barren  rush  and  reed  from  the 
marshes,  and  tlie  side  exposed  to  the  sea  was 
})rotected  by  a  slviff  turned  upside  down.  Here 
Caesar   smote  again   and  again   upon  the  door  till 

277 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Limina  commovit.     MoUi  consurgit  Amyclas,  520 

Quem  dabat  alga,  toro.      "  Quisnam  mea  naufragus'' 

inquit 
"  Tecta  petit  ?  aut  quem  nostrae  fortuna  coegit 
Auxilium  sperare  casae  ?  "     Sic  fatus  ab  alto 
Aggere  iam  tepidae  sublato  fune  favillae 
Scintillam  tenuem  commotos  pavit  in  ignes,  526 

Securus  belli ;  praedam  civilibus  arinis 
Scit  non  esse  casas.     O  vitae  tuta  facultas 
Pauperis  angustique  lares  !  o  munera  nondum 
Intellecta  deum  !     Quibus  hoc  contingere  teraplis 
Aut  potuit  muris,  nullo  trepidare  tumultu  630 

Caesarea  pulsante  manu  ?     Turn  poste  recluso 
Dux  ait :  "  Expecta  votis  maiora  modestis 
Spesque  tuas  laxa,  iuvenis  :  si  iussa  secutus 
Me  vehis  Hesperiam,  non  ultra  cuncta  carinae 
Debebis  manibusque  importunamve  fereris 
Pauperiem  dejtens  ^  inopem  duxisse  senectam.  636 

Ne  cessa  praebere  deo  tua  fata  volenti 
Angustos  opibus  subitis  inplere  penates." 
Sic  fatur,  quamquam  plebeio  tectus  amictu, 
Indociiis  privata  loqui.     Turn  pauper  Amyclas  : 
"  Multa  quidem  prohibent  nocturno  credere  ponto  ;  540 
Nam  sol  non  rutilas  deduxit  in  aequora  nubes 
Concordesque  tulit  radios  :  Noton  altera  Phoebi, 
Altera  pars  Borean  diducta  luce  vocabat. 
Orbe  quoque  exhaustus  medio  languensque  recessit 
Spectantes  oculos  infirmo  lumine  passus.  546 

Lunaque  non  gracili  surrexit  lucida  cornu 

*  The  line  in  italics  was  inserted  by  Housman, 


*  To  use  as  a  torch,  apparently. 
278 


BOOK   V 

the  roof  shook.  Amyclas  rose  up  from  the  soft  bed 
that  seaweed  gave  him.  "  What  shipwrecked  sailor 
seeks  my  roof?"  he  asked, '^  or  whom  has  chance 
compelled  to  hope  for  aid  from  my  cabin  }  "  Thus 
speaking,  he  withdrew  a  rope^  from  a  high  pile  of 
ashes  which  time  had  cooled,  and  fanned  the  slender 
spark  till  he  fed  it  into  flame.  No  thought  of  the 
war  had  he  :  he  knew  that  poor  men's  huts  are 
not  plundered  in  time  of  civil  war.  How  safe  and 
easy  the  poor  man's  life  and  his  humble  dwell- 
ing !  How  blind  men  still  are  to  Heaven's  gifts ! 
What  temple,  what  fortified  town,  could  say  as 
much — that  it  thrills  with  no  alarm  when  Caesar 
knocks  ?  Then,  when  the  door  was  unfastened, 
Caesar  spoke :  "  Enlarge  your  hopes,  young  man, 
and  look  forward  to  bounty  beyond  your  humble 
prayers.  If  you  obey  my  orders  and  carry  me  to 
Italy,  you  shall  not  henceforward  owe  all  to  your 
boat  and  your  own  arms,  nor  shall  you  be  said 
to  have  spent  a  needy  old  age  in  lamenting  cruel 
poverty.  Be  swift  to  place  your  destiny  in  the 
hands  of  Heaven,  which  wishes  to  fill  your  pinched 
home  with  sudden  wealth."  Thus  he  spoke  ;  for 
though  the  garb  he  wore  was  humble,  he  knew  not 
how  to  speak  the  language  of  a  private  man.  Then 
the  poor  man,  Amyclas,  answered  :  "  Many  signs, 
indeed,  prevent  me  from  trusting  the  sea  to-night. 
Thus  the  sun  carried  down  into  the  Ocean  no  ruddy 
clouds,  and  showed  no  symmetrical  ring  of  rays  ;  for 
with  divided  beams  one  half  of  his  disk  summoned 
the  South  wind,  the  other  the  North.  Also,  his 
centre  was  hollowed  and  dim  at  sunset,  and  the 
feeble  light  suffered  the  eye  to  gaze  on  it.  The  moon 
too,  when  she  appeared,  did  not  shine  with  slender 

279 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Aut  orbis  medii  puros  exesa  recessus, 

Nee  duxit  recto  tenuata  cacumina  cornu, 

Ventorumque  notam  rubuit ;  turn  lurida  pallens 

Ora  tulit  voltu  sub  nubem  tristis  ituro.  650 

Sed  mihi  nee  motus  nemorum  nee  litoris  ictus 

Nee  placet  incertus  qui  provoeat  aequora  delphin, 

Aut  sieeum  quod  mergus  amat,  quodque  ausa  volare 

Ardea  sublimis  pinnae  confisa  natanti, 

Quodque  caput  spargens  undis,velut  oecupet  imbrem, 

Instabili  gressu  metitur  litora  comix.  556 

Sed  si  magnarum  poscunt  discrimina  rerum, 

Haud  dubitem  praebere  manus  :  vel  litora  tangara 

lussa,  vel  hoc  potius  pelagus  flatusque  negabunt." 

Haec  fatur  solvensque  ratem  dat  carbasa  ventis,         560 

Ad  quorum  motus  non  solum  lapsa  per  altum 

Aera  dispersos  traxere  cadentia  sulcos 

Sidera,  sed  summis  etiam  quae  fixa  tenentur 

Astra  polls  sunt  visa  quati.     Niger  inficit  horror 

Terga  maris,  longo  per  multa  volumina  tractu  565 

Aestuat  unda  minax,  flatusque  incerta  futuri 

Turbida  testantur  conceptos  aequora  ventos. 

Tunc  rector  trepidae  fatur  ratis  :  "  Aspice,  saevum 

Quanta  paret  pelagus  ;  Zephyros  intendat  an  Austros, 

Incertum  est :  puppim  dubius  ferit  undique  pontus.  570 

Nubibus  et  caelo  Notus  est ;  si  murmura  ponti 

280 


BOOK    V 

horn ;  nor  was  she  carved  out  in  a  clear-cut  hollow 
of  her  central  orb  ;  nor  did  she  prolong  her  tapering 
extremities  with  upright  horn.  She  was  red,  with 
an  indication  of  storms  ;  then  she  was  pale  and 
showed  a  sallow  face,  and  saddened  as  her  counten- 
ance began  to  pass  behind  a  cloud.  For  the  rest, 
1  like  not  the  tossing  of  the  trees  or  the  beat  of 
the  waves  on  the  shore ;  or  when  the  dolphin  with 
changing  course  challenges  the  sea  to  rise,  and  the 
cormorant  prefers  the  land,  and  the  heron  dares 
to  fly  aloft  and  trusts  his  water-cleaving  pinion,  and 
the  crow,  sprinkling  his  head  with  brine,  seems  to 
forestall  the  rain  and  paces  the  shore  with  lurching 
gait — I  like  not  these  signs.  Nevertheless,  if  a 
great  crisis  requires  it,  I  cannot  hesitate  to  lend  my 
aid  :  either  I  will  land  you  where  you  bid  me,  or 
the  wind  and  waves,  not  I,  shall  say  you  nay." — 
With  these  words  he  unmoored  his  boat  and  spread 
his  canvas  to  the  winds.  At  the  motion  of  the 
winds,  not  only  the  meteors  which  glide  through 
the  high  heaven  drawing  after  them  trains  of 
diffused  light  as  they  fall,  but  also  the  stars  which 
remain  fixed  in  the  summit  of  the  sky,  seemed  to 
be  shaken.  A  shudder  of  darkness  blackened  the 
ridges  of  the  sea  ;  the  angry  deep  boiled  with  a 
long  swell,  wave  following  wave  ;  and  the  swollen 
billows,  uncertain  of  the  cominfij  storm,  gave  token 
that  they  were  in  travail  with  hem  pest.  Then  said 
the  skipper  of  the  restless  boat :  "  See  what  mighty 
mischief  the  cruel  sea  is  brewing.  I  know  not 
whether  it  threatens  us  with  winds  from  West  or 
South ;  for  the  shifting  current  strikes  the  boat 
from  every  side.  The  South  wind  prevails  in  the 
clouds  and  in  the  sky  ;  but  if  we  mark  the  moaning 

281 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Consulimus,  Cori  veniet  mare.     Gurgite  tanto 

Nee  ratis  Hesperias  tanget  nee  naufragus  oras. 

Desperare  viam  et  vetitos  convertere  cursus 

Sola  salus.     Liceat  vexata  litora  puppe  675 

Prendere^  ne  longe  nimium  sit  proxima  tellus." 

Fisus  cuncta  sibi  cessura  pericula  Caesar 
"Sperne  minas"  inquit  "pelagi  ventoque  furenti 
Trade  sinum.     Italiam  si  caelo  auctore  recusas. 
Me  pete.     Sola  tibi  causa  est  haec  iusta  timoris,         580 
Veetorem  non  nosse  tuum,  quern  numina  numquam 
Destituunt,  de  quo  male  tunc  fortuna  meretur. 
Cum  post  vota  venit.     Medias  perrumpe  procellas 
Tutela  secure  mea.     Caeli  iste  fretique, 
JNon  puppis  nostrae,  labor  est :  banc  Caesare  pressam  585 
A  fluctu  defendet  onus.     Nee  longa  furori 
Ventorum  saevo  dabitur  mora  :  proderit  undis 
Ista  ratis.     Ne  flecte  manum,  fuge  proxima  velis 
Litora  :  turn  Calabro  portu  te  crede  potitum. 
Cum  iam  non  poterit  puppi  nostraeque  salutl  590 

Altera  terra  dari.     Quid  tanta  strage  paretur, 
Ignoras  :  quaerit  pelagi  caelique  tumultu. 
Quod  praestet  Fortuna  mihi."     Non  plura  locuto 
Avolsit  laceros  percussa  puppe  rudentes 
Turbo  rapax  fragilemque  super  volitantia  malum        695 
Vela  tulit ;  sonuit  victis  conpagibus  alnus. 
282 


BOOK   V 

of  the  sea,  a  gale  from  the  North-west  will  master 
the  main.  In  such  a  tlood  neither  ship  nor  ship- 
wrecked sailor  will  ever  reach  the  shore  of  Italy. 
Our  one  cliance  is  to  resign  all  hope  of  a  passage 
and  retrace  our  forbidden  course.  Suffer  me  to 
make  the  shore  with  my  battered  craft,  or  else  the 
nearest  land  may  prove  too  distant." 

But  Caesar  was  confident  that  all  dangers  would 
make  way  for  him.  "Despise  the  angry  sea/'  he 
cried,  '*and  spread  your  sail  to  the  raging  wind. 
If  you  refuse  to  make  for  Italy  when  Heaven 
forbids,  then  make  for  it  when  I  command.  One 
cause  alone  justifies  your  fear — that  you  know  not 
whom  you  carry.  He  is  a  man  whom  the  gods 
never  desert,  whom  Fortune  treats  scurvily  when 
she  comes  merely  in  answer  to  his  prayer.  Burst 
through  the  heart  of  the  storm,  relying  on  my 
protection.  Yonder  trouble  concerns  the  sky  and 
sea,  but  not  our  bark  ;  for  Caesar  treads  the  deck, 
and  her  freight  shall  insure  her  against  the  waves. 
No  long  duration  shall  be  permitted  to  the  fierce 
fury  of  the  winds :  this  bark  shall  be  the  salvation 
of  the  sea.  Turn  not  your  helm ;  use  your  sail 
to  flee  from  the  neighbouring  shore  ;  then  you  must 
believe  that  you  have  gained  an  Italian  harbour, 
when  it  is  no  longer  possible  for  any  other  land 
to  shelter  our  boat  and  secure  our  safety.  You 
know  not  the  meaning  of  this  wild  confusion  :  by 
this  hurly-burly  of  sea  and  sky  Fortune  is  seeking 
a  boon  to  confer  on  me."  Ere  he  spoke  another 
word,  the  raging  whirlwind  smote  the  vessel  and 
tore  away  the  tattered  cordage,  and  bore  off  the 
sails  that  fluttered  over  the  frail  mast,  the  hull 
groaned  as  the  seams  gave  way. 

283 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Inde  ruunt  toto  concita  pericula  mundo. 
Primus  ab  oceano  caput  exeris  Atlanteo^ 
Core,  movens  aestus ;  iam  te  tollente  furehat 
Pontus  et  in  scopulos  totas  erexerat  undas  : 
Occurrit  gelidus  Boreas  pelagusque  retundit, 
Et  dubium  pendet,  vento  cui  concidat,  aequor. 
Sed  Scythici  vicit  rabies  Aquilonis  et  undas 
Torsit  et  abstrusas  penitus  vada  fecit  harenas. 
Nee  perfert  pontum  Boreas  ad  saxa  suuinque 
In  fluctus  Cori  frangit  mare,  motaque  possunt 
Aequora  subductis  etiam  concurrere  ventis. 
Non  Euri  cessasse  minas,  non  imbribus  atrum 
Aeolii  iacuisse  Notum  sub  carcere  saxi 
Crediderim  ;  cunctos  solita  de  parte  ruentes 
Defendisse  suas  violento  turbine  terras. 
Sic  pelagus  mansisse  loco.     Nam  priva  ^  procellis 
Aequora  rapta  ferunt :  Aegaeas  transit  in  undas 
Tyrrhenum,  sonat  lonio  vagus  Hadria  ponto. 
A  quotiens  frustra  pulsatos  aequore  montes 
Obruit  ilia  dies  !  quam  celsa  cacumina  pessura 
Tellus  victa  dedit !  non  ullo  litore  surgunt 
Tam  validi  fluctus,  alioque  ex  orbe  voluti 
A  magno  venere  mari,  mundumque  coercens 
Monstriferos  agit  unda  sinus.     Sic  rector  Olympi 
Cuspide  fraterna  lassatum  in  saecula  fulmen 
Adiuvit,  regnoque  accessit  terra  secundo, 

^  priva  Hoasman  :  parva  MS8, 

^  •'  The  sea  as  a  whole  "  is  meant. 
284 


p 


BOOK    V 

And  now  dangers,  summoned  from  all  the  world, 
came  rushing  on.  First  the  North-west  wind  raised 
his  head  above  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  stirred  the 
tides ;  and  soon  the  sea,  roused  by  him,  was  raging 
and  would  have  lifted  up  all  its  waves  to  cover 
the  cliffs  ;  but  the  cold  North  wind  struck  athwart 
and  beat  back  the  flood,  till  the  sea  hung  doubtful 
before  which  wind  it  would  fall.  But  the  fury  of 
the  Scythian  North  wind  prevailed  :  it  lashed  the 
waves  in  circles  and  changed  to  shallows  the  sands 
hidden  far  below.  But  it  could  not  carry  the  sea 
right  to  the  shore,  but  broke  its  tide  against  the 
waves  raised  by  the  North-west  wind  ;  and,  even 
if  the  winds  were  hushed,  the  angry  waters  might 
carry  on  their  strife.  I  cannot  but  believe  that  the 
fierce  East  wind  was  active  then,  and  that  the 
South  wind,  black  with  storm,  was  not  idle  in  the 
prison  of  Aeolus'  cave,  and  that  all  the  winds, 
rushing  from  their  accustomed  quarters,  protected 
their  own  regions  with  furious  hurricane ;  and  that 
therefore  the  sea  ^  remained  in  its  place.  Separate 
seas  were  caught  up  by  the  storm  and  carried  away 
by  the  winds  :  the  Tyrrhene  Sea  migrated  to  the 
Aegean,  and  the  Adriatic  moved  and  roared  in  the 
Ionian  basin.  That  day  buried  mountains  which 
the  waves  had  often  before  battered  in  vain ;  and 
the  defeated  earth  sent  lofty  peaks  to  the  bottom. 
No  shore  gave  birth  to  these  mighty  waves :  they 
came  rolling  from  another  region  and  from  the 
outer  sea,  and  the  waters  which  encircle  the  world 
drove  on  these  teeming  billows.  Thus,  when  his 
own  thunderbolt  was  weary,  the  Ruler  of  Olympus 
called  in  his  brother's  trident  to  help  in  punishing 
mankind ;    and  earth  became  an  appanage  of   the 

285 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Cum  mare  convolvit  gentes,  cum  litora  Telhys 

Noluit  ulla  pati  caelo  contenta  teneri. 

Tum  quoque  tanta  maris  moles  crevisset  in  astra,       625 

Ni  superum  rector  press'S'^et  nubibus  undas. 

Non  caeli  nox  ilia  fuit :  latet  obsitus  aer 

Infernae  pallore  domus  nimbisque  gravatus 

Deprimitur,  fluctusque  in  nubibus  accipit  imbrem. 

Lux  etiam  metuenda  perit,  nee  fulgura  currunt  630 

Clara^  sed  obscurum  nimbosus  dissilit  aer. 

Tum  superum  convexa  tremunt,  atque  arduus  axis 

Intonuit,  motaque  poli  conpage  laborant. 

Extimuit  natura  chaos  ;  rupisse  videntur 

Concordes  elementa  moras,  rursusque  redire  635 

Nox  manes  mixtura  deis  :  spes  una  salutis, 

Quod  tanta  mundi  nondum  periere  ruina. 

Quantum  Leucadio  placidus  de  vertice  pontus 

Despicitur,  tantum  nautae  videre  trementes 

Fluctibus  e  summis  praeceps  mare  \  cumque  tumentes  640 

Rursus  hiant  undae,  vix  eminet  aequore  malus. 

Nubila  tanguntur  velis  et  terra  carina. 

Nam  pelagus,  qua  parte  sedet,  non  celat  harenas 

Exhaustum  in  cumulos,  omnisque  in  fluctibus  unda  est. 

Artis  opem  vicere  metus,  nescitque  magister,  645 

Quam  frangat,  cui  cedat  aquae.      Discordia  ponti 

Succurrit  miseris,  fluctusque  evertere  puppim 

Non  valet  in  fluctum  :  victum  latus  unda  repellens 

^  The  sea  :  of.  iv.  110.      The  reference  is  to  Deucalion's  flood. 
286 


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second  kingdom,*  when  the  Ocean  swallowed  up 
the  human  race  and  refused  to  endure  any  limits, 
content  with  no  bound  except  the  sky.  Now  once 
more  the  mighty  mass  of  waters  would  have  risen 
to  the  stars,  had  not  the  Ruler  of  the  gods  kept 
down  the  sea  with  clouds.  The  darkness  was  not 
the  common  darkness  of  night :  the  heavens  were 
hidden  and  veiled  with  the  dimness  of  the  infernal 
regions,  and  weighed  down  by  clouds ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  clouds  the  rain  poured  into  the  sea. 
Light,  even  dreadful  light,  died  ;  no  bright  lightnings 
darted,  but  the  stormy  sky  gave  dim  flashes. 
Next,  the  dome  of  the  gods  quaked,  the  lofty  sky 
thundered,  and  the  heavens,  with  all  their  structure 
jarred,  were  troubled.  Nature  dreaded  chaos :  it 
seemed  that  the  elements  had  burst  their  harmonious 
bonds,  and  that  Night  was  returning,  to  blend  the 
shades  below  with  the  gods  above  ;  the  one  hope 
of  safety  for  the  gods  is  this — that  in  the  universal 
catastrophe  they  have  not  yet  been  destroyed. 
Far  as  the  eye  looks  down  from  the  Leucadian  peak 
upon  calm  sea,  so  high  a  precipice  of  water  was  seen 
by  trembling  mariners  on  the  top  of  the  billows  ; 
and  when  once  again  the  swollen  waves  open  their 
jaws,  the  mast  barely  projects  above  the  surface. 
The  sails  reach  the  clouds,  the  keel  rests  on  the 
bottom.  For  the  water,  where  it  sinks  down,  does 
not  cover  the  bottom  :  it  all  goes  to  form  mounds 
and  is  used  up  in  the  waves.  The  danger  was  too 
great  for  the  aid  derived  from  skill  :  the  steersman 
knows  not  when  to  face  the  current  and  when  to 
evade  it.  The  strife  of  the  waters  is  helpful  to  the 
wretched  sailors  ;  for  one  wave  is  powerless  against 
another  to  upset  the  vessel ;  when  her  side  is  struck, 

387 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Erigit,  atque  omni  surgit  ratis  ardua  vento. 

Non  humilem  Sasona  vadis,  non  litora  curvae  660 

Thessaliae  saxosa  pavent  oraeque  malignos 

Ambraciae  portus,  scopulosa  Ceraunia  nautae 

Summa  timent.     Credit  iam  di^na  pericula  Caesar 

Fatis  esse  suis.     "  Quantusne  evertere  "  dixit 

"Me  superis  labor  est,  parva  quem  puppe  sedentem  656 

Tam  magno  petiere  mari  ?  si  gloria  leti 

Est  pelago  donata  mei  bellisque  negamur, 

Intrepidus,  quamcumque  datis  milii,  numina,  mortem 

Accipiam.     Licet  ingentes  abriiperit  actus 

Festinata  dies  fatis,  sat  magna  peregi.  660 

Arctoas  domui  gentes,  inimica  subegi 

Arma  metu,  vidit  Magnum  mihi  Roma  secundum, 

lussa  plebe  tuli  fasces  per  bella  negatos ; 

Nulla  meis  aberit  titulis  Romana  potestas. 

Nee  sciet  hoc  quisquam,  nisi  tu,  quae  sola  meorum     665 

Conscia  votorum  es,  me,  quamvis  plenus  honorum 

Et  dictator  eam  Stygias  et  consul  ad  umbras. 

Privatum,  Fortuna,  mori.      Mihi  funere  nullo 

Est  opus,  o  superi ;  lacerum  retinete  cadaver 

Fluctibus  in  mediis,  desint  mihi  busta  rogusque,         670 

Dum  metuar  semper  terraque  expecter  ab  omni." 

Haec  fatum  decimus,  dictu  mirabile,  fluctus 

Invalida  cum  puppe  levat,  nee  rursus  ab  alto 

Aggere  deiecit  pelagi  sed  pertulit  unda, 

Scruposisque  angusta  vacant  ubi  litora  saxis,  676 


1  See  n.  to  ii.  627. 

^  The  meaning  is,  that  Fortune  alone  would  know  Caesar's 
disappointment  in  dying  uncrowned. 

'  The  ancients  believed  that  every  tenth  wave  was  larger 
than  the  rest.  Lowell  has  "The  surge  and  thunder  of  the 
decuman." 

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another  sea  beats  her  back  and  rights  her,  and 
she  rises  erect  because  all  the  winds  blow  at  once. 
It  is  not  the  shoals  of  low-lying  Sason^  that  frighten 
the  crews,  nor  yet  the  rocky  shore  of  winding 
1  hessaly,  nor  the  scanty  harbours  of  the  Ambracian 
coast,  but  rather  the  tops  of  the  Ceraunian  moun- 
tains.— Caesar  considers  at  last  that  the  danger  is  on 
a  scale  to  match  his  destiny.  "  What  trouble  the 
gods  take,"  he  cried,  ^Ho  work  my  ruin,  assailing 
me  on  my  little  boat  with  such  a  mighty  storm  !  If 
the  glory  of  my  death,  denied  to  the  battle-field, 
has  been  granted  to  the  deep,  I  shall  not  shrink 
from  meeting  whatever  end  Heaven  appoints  for 
me.  Although  the  date,  hastened  on  by  destiny, 
cuts  short  a  great  career,  my  achievements  are 
sufficient :  I  have  conquered  the  Northern  peoples  ; 
by  fear  alone  I  have  quelled  the  Roman  forces 
opposed  to  me  ;  Rome  has  seen  me  take  precedence 
of  Magnus ;  by  appeal  to  the  people  I  won  the 
consulship  denied  to  me  by  force  of  arms  ;  no  Roman 
office  will  be  found  missing  from  my  record  ;  and 
none  other  than  Fortune,  who  shares  with  me  the 
secret  of  my  ambition,  shall  ever  know  that,  though 
I  go  down  to  the  Stygian  shades  loaded  with  honours, 
dictator  as  well  as  consul,  nevertheless  I  am  dying  a 
private  citizen. ^  I  ask  no  burial  of  the  gods  :  let 
them  leave  my  mutilated  corpse  amid  the  waves ; 
I  can  dispense  with  grave  and  funeral  pyre,  provided 
I  am  feared  for  ever  and  my  apjiearance  is  dreaded 
by  every  land."  As  he  spoke  thus,  a  tenth  wave^ — 
marvellous  to  tell — upbore  him  and  his  battered 
craft ;  nor  did  the  billow  hurl  him  back  again  from 
the  high  watery  crest  but  bore  him  onwards  till 
it  laid  him  on  the   land,  where  a  narrow  strip  of 

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M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Inposuit  terrae.     Pariter  tot  regna,  tot  urbes 
Fortunamque  suam  tacta  tellure  recepit. 

Sed  non  tam  remeans  Caesar  iam  luce  propinqua 
Quam  tacita  sua  castra  fuga  comitesque  fefellit. 
Circumfusa  duci  flevit  gemituque  suorum  680 

Et  non  ingratis  incessit  turba  querellis. 
"Quo  te^  dure,  tulit  virtus  temeraria,  Caesar? 
Aut  quae  nos  viles  animas  in  fata  relinquens 
Invitis  spargenda  dabas  tua  membra  procellis  ? 
Cum  tot  in  bac  anima  populorum  vita  sal  usque  685 

Pendeat  et  tantus  caput  hoc  sibi  fecerit  orbis, 
Saevitia  est  voluisse  mori.     NuUusne  tuorum 
Emeruit  comitum  fatis  non  posse  superstes 
Esse  tuis  ?     Cum  te  raperet  mare,  corpora  segnis 
Nostra  sopor  tenuit.     Pudet  heu  !  Tibi  causa  petendae 
Haec  fuit  Hesperiae,  visum  est  quod  mittere  quemquam 
Tam  saevo  crudele  mari.     Sors  ultima  rerum  692 

In  dubios  casus  et  prona  pericula  morti 
Praecipitare  solet :  mundi  iam  summa  tenentem 
Permisisse  mari  tantum  !  quid  numina  lassas?  695 

Sufficit  ad  fatum  belli  favor  iste  laborque 
Fortunae,  quod  te  nostris  inpegit  harenis  ? 
Hine  usus  placuere  deum,  non  rector  ut  orbis 
Nee  dominus  rerum,  sed  felix  naufragus  esses  ?  " 
Talia  iactantes  discussa  nocte  serenus  700 


*  Not  the  shore  of  Italy,  as  one  might  gather  from  Lucan ; 
he  was  driven  back  by  the  storm  and  failed  to  cross  the  sea. 

*  I.e.  has  saved  you  from  drowning. 

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shore  was  clear  of  jagged  rocks.  He  touched  the 
land  ^  and  recovered  in  one  moment  realms  and  cities 
innumerable  and  his  own  lucky  star. 

But  when  Caesar  returned  next  day  to  his  army 
and  his  officers,  they  were  not  taken  unawares  by 
his  return  as  they  had  been  by  his  secret  departure. 
Crowding  round  their  leader,  they  shed  tears  and 
assailed   him   with   lament   and   expostulations   not 
unpleasing   to   his   ear.     ''Hardhearted   Caesar,    to 
what  lengths  your  rash  courage  has  carried  you ! 
And  at  the  mercy  of  what  fate  did  you  leave  our 
worthless   lives,  when  you  gave  your  limbs  to  be 
torn  in  pieces  by  the  reluctant  winds?     When  the 
existence   and   safety  of  so   many   nations   depend 
upon  your  single  life,  and  so  large  a  part  of  the 
world  has  chosen  you  for  its  head,  it  is  cruel  of  you 
to  court  death.     Did  none  of  your  comrades  deserve 
the  honour  of  being  prevented  from  surviving  your 
end?     While  the  sea  drove  you  along,  our  limbs 
were  held  by  slothful  sleep ;  you  put  us  to  the  blush. 
You  made  for  Italy  yourself,  because  you  deemed  it 
heartless  to  bid  any  other  cross  such  a  stormy  sea. 
In  general  it  is  utter  despair  that  hurls  men  into 
jeopardy  and  danger  that  runs  straight  to  death  ; 
but  that  you,  who  are  now  master  of  the  world, 
should  grant  such  licence  to  the  sea !     Why  do  you 
overtask    the   goodwill    of    Heaven?     Fortune   has 
hurled  you  here  upon  the  shore  ;2  for  the  issue  of  the 
war,  are  you  content  with  that  instance  of  her  favour 
and  assistance  ?     Is  this  the  use  you  prefer  to  make 
of  Heaven,  that  you  should  be,  not  the  ruler  of  the 
world  or  the  master  of  mankind,  but  a  shipwrecked 
wretch  who  escapes  from  drowning  ?  "     As  thus  they 
argued,  darkness  was  dispelled  and   clear  daylight 

291 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Oppressit  cum  sole  dies,  fessumque  tumentes 
G)nposuit  pelagus  ventis  patientibus  undas. 

Nee  noil  Hesperii  lassatum  fluctibus  aequor 
Ut  videre  duces,  purumque  insurgere  caelo 
Fracturum  pelagus  Borean,  solvere  carinas  ;  705 

Quas  veiitus  doctaeque  pari  moderamine  dextrae 
Permixtas  habuere  diu,  latumque  per  aequor, 
Ut  terrestre,  coit  consertis  puppibus  agmen. 
Sed  nox  saeva  modum  venti  velique  tenorem 
Eripuit  nautis  excussitque  ordine  puppes.  710 

Strymona  sic  gelidum  bruma  pellente  relinquunt 
Poturae  te,  Nile,  grues,  primoque  volatu 
Effingunt  varias  casu  monstrante  figuras  ; 
Mox,  ubi  percussit  tensas  Notus  altior  alas, 
Confusos  temere  inmixtae  glomerantur  in  orbes,         715 
Et  turbata  perit  dispersis  littera  pinnis. 
Cum  primum  redeunte  die  violentior  aer 
Puppibus  incubuit  Phoebeo  concitus  ortu, 
Praetereunt  frustra  temptati  litora  Lissi 
Nymphaeumque  tenent ;  nudas  Aquilonibus  undas     720 
Succedens  Boreae  iam  portum  fecerat  Auster. 

Undique  conlatis  in  robur  Caesaris  armis 
Summa  videns  duri  Magnus  discrimina  Martis 
lam  castris  instare  suis  seponere  tutum 
Coniugii  decrevit  onus  Lesboque  remota  726 

Te  procul  a  saevi  strepitu,  Cornelia,  belli 
Occulere.     Heu  quantum  mentes  dominatur  in  aequas 

*  Palamedes   was    said    to    have    invented  the   alphabet   by 
copying  the  figures  formed  by  flocks  of  cranes  in  the  sky. 

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came  upon  them  together  with  the  sun ;  and  the 
weary  sea,  permitted  by  the  winds,  calmed  its 
swollen  billows. 

The  commanders  in  Italy  also,  when  they  saw  that 
the  sea  was  weary  of  waves,  and  that  a  clear  North 
wind,  rising  in  the  sky,  would  soon  break  the  force 
of  the  waters,  cast  loose  their  ships ;  and  these  were 
long  kept  close  together  by  the  wind  and  by  skilled 
hands  all  steering  the  same  course :  like  soldiers 
marching  on  land,  the  fleet  sailed  together  over 
the  broad  sea,  vessel  keeping  close  to  vessel.  But 
night,  proving  unkind,  robbed  the  sailors  of  steady 
wind,  stopped  the  even  progress  of  the  sails,  and 
threw  the  ships  out  of  station.  Thus,  when  cranes 
are  driven  by  winter  from  the  frozen  Strymon  to 
drink  the  water  of  the  Nile,  at  the  beginning  of 
their  flight  they  describe  various  chance-taught 
figures  ;  but  later,  when  a  loftier  wind  beats  on  their 
outspread  wings,  they  combine  at  random  and  form 
disordered  packs,  until  the  letter^  is  broken  and 
disappears  as  the  birds  are  scattered.  As  soon  as 
day  returned,  and  the  brisker  air  roused  by  the 
dawn  bore  down  on  the  ships,  after  trying  in  vain  to 
land  at  Lissus,  they  sailed  past  to  reach  Nymphaeum, 
where  the  sea,  unprotected  on  the  North,  had  been 
turned  into  a  harbour  by  the  shift  of  wind  from 
North  to  South. 

When  Caesar's  forces  were  collected  from  every 
quarter  to  full  strength,  Magnus  saw  that  his  army 
must  soon  face  the  supreme  crisis  of  stern  war,  and 
therefore  decided  to  place  in  safety  his  wife,  a 
precious  charge,  and  to  hide  Cornelia  in  the  retire- 
ment of  Lesbos,  far  from  the  tumult  of  cruel 
warfare.     Ah  !  how  mighty  is  the  power  of  wedded 

293 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

lusta  Venus  !  dubium  trepidumque  ad  proelia,  Magne, 

Te  quoque  fecit  amor ;  quod  nolles  stare  sub  ictu 

Fortunae,  quo  mundus  erat  Romanaque  fata,  730 

Coniunx  sola  fuit.     Mentem  iam  verba  paratam 

Destituunt,  blandaeque  iuvat  ventura  trahentem 

Indulgere  morae  et  tempus  subducere  fatis. 

Nocte  sub  extrema  pulso  torpore  quietis, 

Dum  fovet  amplexu  gravidum  Cornelia  curls  735 

Pectus  et  aversi  petit  oscula  grata  mariti, 

Umentes  mirata  genas  percussaque  caeco 

Volnere  non  audet  flentem  deprendere  Magnum. 

Ille  gemens  "  Non  nunc  vita  mihi  dulcior,"  inquit, 

"  Cum  taedet  vitae,  laeto  sed  tempore,  coniunx,  740 

Venit  maesta  dies  et  quam  nimiumque  parumque 

Distulimus ;  iam  totus  adest  in  proelia  Caesar. 

Cedendum  est  bellis ;  quorum  tibi  tuta  latebra 

Lesbos  erit.     Desiste  preces  temptare,  negavi 

Iam  mihi.     Non  longos  a  me  patiere  recessus  ;  746 

Praecipites  aderunt  casus  ;  properante  ruina 

Summa  cadunt.     Satis  est  audisse  pericula  Magni  : 

Meque  tuus  decepit  amor,  civilia  bella 

Si  spectare  potes.     Nam  me  iam  Marte  parato 

Securos  cepisse  pudet  cum  coniuge  somnos,  750 

Eque  tuo,  quatiunt  miserum  cum  classica  mundum, 

Surrexisse  sinu.     Vereor  civilibus  armis 

Pompeium  nullo  tristem  committere  damno. 

Tutior  interea  populis  et  tutior  omni 

Rege  late,  positamque  procul  fortuna  mariti  765 


^  He  must  propitiate  ill-will  by  gome  personal  sacrifice. 
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love  over  gentle  hearts !  Even  Magnus  was  made 
anxious  and  afraid  of  battle  by  his  love ;  one  thing 
alone  he  wished  to  save  from  the  stroke  that  over- 
hung the  world  and  the  destiny  of  Rome ;  and  that 
one  thing  was  his  wife.  Though  his  mind  was  made 
up  already,  words  failed  him :  he  preferred  to  post- 
pone what  must  come,  to  yield  to  the  allurements  of 
delay,  and  to  steal  a  reprieve  from  destiny.  Night 
was  ending  and  the  drowsiness  of  sleep  was  banished, 
when  Cornelia  clasped  in  her  arms  the  care-laden 
breast  of  her  husband  and  sought  the  dear  lips  of 
him  who  turned  from  her;  wondering  at  his  wet 
cheeks  and  smitten  by  a  trouble  she  could  not 
understand,  she  was  abashed  to  discover  Magnus  in 
tears.  Sighing,  he  said  :  "  O  my  wife,  dearer  to  me 
than  life  when  life  was  sweet,  not  now  when  I  am 
weary  of  it,  the  sad  day  which  we  have  put  off  at 
once  too  long  and  not  long  enough  has  come  at  last : 
Caesar  with  all  his  forces  is  upon  us  now ;  war 
cannot  be  resisted,  but  Lesbos  will  hide  you  safe 
from  war.  Cease  to  urge  me  with  entreaty ;  I  have 
already  said  'no'  to  myself.  You  will  not  long 
suffer  separation  from  me :  the  decisive  event  will 
come  speedily ;  the  mightiest  fall  with  rapid  over- 
throw. It  is  enough  for  you  to  know  by  report  the 
dangers  that  Magnus  incurs ;  and  you  love  me  less 
than  I  imagined,  if  you  can  bear  to  look  on  at  civil 
war.  As  for  me,  now  that  battle  is  at  hand,  I  am 
ashamed  to  enjoy  peaceful  sleep  at  my  wife's  side, 
and  to  rise  from  her  embrace  when  the  war-note 
rouses  the  suffering  world.  I  fear  to  trust  myself  to 
civil  war,  unless  I  am  suddenetl  by  a  loss  of  my 
own.^  You  meanwhile  must  lie  hidden,  safer  than 
any  nation  or  any  king ;  and  if  you  are  far  away,  the 

295 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  tota  te  mole  premat.     Si  numina  nostras 
Inpulerint  acies,  maneat  pars  optima  Magni, 
Sitque  mihi,  si  fata  prement  victorque  cruentus. 
Quo  fugisse  velim."     Vix  tantum  infirma  dolorera 
Cepit,  et  attonito  cesserunt  pectore  sensus. 
Tandem  vox  maestas  potuit  proferre  querellas : 
"  Nil  mihi  de  fatis  thalami  superisque  relictum  est, 
Magne,  queri :  nostros  non  rumpit  funus  amores 
Nee  diri  fax  summa  rogi,  sed  sorte  frequent! 
Plebeiaque  nimis  careo  dimissa  marito. 
Hostis  ad  adventum  rumpamus  foedera  taedae, 
Placemus  socerum !     Sic  est  tibi  cognita^  Magne, 
Nostra  fides  ?  credisne  aliquid  mihi  tutius  esse 
Quam  tibi  ?  non  olim  casu  pendemus  ab  uno  ? 
Fulminibus  me,  saeve,  iubes  tantaeque  ruinae 
Absentem  praestare  caput  ?  secura  videtur 
Sors  tibi,  cum  facias  etiamnunc  vota,  perisse  ? 
Ut  nolim  servire  malis  sed  morte  parata 
Te  sequar  ad  manes,  feriat  dum  maesta  remotas 
Fama  procul  terras,  vivam  tibi  nempe  superstes. 
Adde,  quod  adsuescis  fatis  tantumque  dolorem, 
Crudelis,  me  ferre  doces.     Ignosce  fatenti, 
Posse  pati  timeo.     Quod  si  sunt  vota,  deisque 
Audior,  eventus  rerum  sciet  ultima  coniunx. 
Sollicitam  rupes  iam  te  victore  tenebuut. 


^  By  separation  from  her  h  us  Laud. 
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destiny  of  your  husband  need  not  crush  you  with 
its  full  weight.  If  Heaven  hurls  my  armies  to 
destruction,  let  the  best  part  of  me  survive,  and  let 
me  have  a  welcome  hiding-place  from  the  pursuit  of 
Fortune  and  the  conqueror's  cruelty."  Scarce  could 
she  in  her  weakness  sustain  so  great  a  sorrow ;  her 
senses  fled  from  her  stricken  breast.  At  last  she 
was  able  to  utter  her  sad  remonstrances:  "No 
power  is  left  me,  Magnus,  to  complain  of  our  destiny 
in  marriage  or  of  the  gods.  For  it  is  not  death  that 
divorces  us,  nor  the  final  brand  of  the  awful  funeral 
pyre ;  no,  by  a  lot  all  too  common  and  familiar,  1 
lose  my  husband,  because  he  sends  me  from  him. 
Because  the  enemy  draws  near,  let  us  dissolve  our 
marriage-bond  and  so  appease  the  father  of  your 
former  wife  !  Is  this  the  opinion  you  have  formed  of 
my  troth,  Magnus?  Do  you  believe  that  my  safety 
can  be  different  from  your  safety  ?  Have  we  not  for 
long  been  dependent  upon  the  same  hazard  .f*  Are 
you  so  cruel  as  to  bid  me,  apart  from  you,  expose 
my  head  to  the  thunder  and  the  downfall  of  the 
world  ?  Do  you  think  it  is  an  easy  lot  for  me  to  have 
already  perished/  while  you  are  still  praying  for  suc- 
cess ?  Suppose  I  refuse  to  be  mastered  by  misfortune, 
and  follow  you  to  the  nether  world  by  a  prompt  death ; 
yet,  luitil  the  sad  news  falls  on  regions  far  away,  I  shall 
surely  live  on  after  you  are  dead.  Besides,  you  are 
cruel  in  habituating  me  to  my  fate,  and  teaching  me 
to  bear  so  great  a  sorrow.  Forgive  the  confession — 
but  I  fear  that  I  may  find  life  endurable.  But  if 
prayers  avail  and  the  gods  hear  mine,  then  your 
wife  will  be  the  last  to  learn  the  issue  of  events. 
After  your  victory,  I  shall  haunt  the  cliffs  of  Lesbos 
in  my  anxiety;    and    I    shall   dread  the  ship  that 

297 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Et  puppem,  quae  fata  feret  tam  laeta,  timebo. 

Nee  solvent  audita  metus  mihi  prospera  belli. 

Cum  vacuis  proiecta  locis  a  Caesare  possim 

Vel  fugiente  capi.     Notescent  litora  clari 

Nominis  exilio^  positaque  ibi  coniuge  Magni  786 

Quis  Mytilenaeas  poterit  nescire  latebras  ? 

Hoc  precor  extremum :  si  nil  tibi  victa  relinquent 

Tutius  arma  fuga^  cum  te  commiseris  undis, 

Quolibet  infaustam  potius  deflecte  carinara  ; 

Litoribus  quaerere  meis."     Sic  fata  relictis  790 

Exiluit  stratis  amens  tormentaque  nulla 

Vult  differre  mora.     Non  maesti  pectora  Magni 

Sustinet  amplexu  dulci,  non  colla  tenere, 

Extremusque  perit  tam  longi  fructus  amoris, 

Praecipitantque  suos  luctus^  neuterque  recedens         795 

Sustinuit  dixisse  "  vale  "  ;  vitamque  per  omnem 

Nulla  fuit  tam  maesta  dies  ;  nam  cetera  damna 

Durata  iam  mente  malis  firmaque  tulerunt. 

Labitur  infelix  manibusque  excepta  suorum 
Fertur  ad  aequoreas,  ac  se  prosternit,  harenas,  800 

Litoraque  ipsa  tenet,  tandemque  inlata  carinae  est. 
Non  sic  infelix  patriam  portusque  reliquit 
Hesperios,  saevi  premerent  cum  Caesaris  arma. 
Fida  comes  Magni  vadit  duce  sola  relicto 
Pompeiumque  fiigit.     Quae  nox  tibi  proxima  venit,  806 
Insomnis ;  viduo  tum  primum  frigida  lecto 
Atque  insueta  quies  uni,  nudumque  marito 


298 


r 


BOOK   V 

brings  such  news  of  battle  won.  The  report  of 
victory  will  not  allay  my  fears,  because  in  the 
deserted  places  whither  I  am  cast  out  I  may  be 
taken  prisoner  by  Caesar,  even  when  he  is  a  fugitive. 
Tlie  exile  of  one  who  bears  a  famous  name  will 
throw  a  light  upon  the  shore  of  Lesbos;  and  who 
can  remain  ignorant  of  the  asylum  of  Mitylene,  when 
it  harbours  the  wife  of  Magnus?  This  is  my  last 
prayer :  if  defeat  makes  flight  your  safest  course  and 
you  entrust  yourself  to  the  sea,  steer  your  ill-starred 
bark  to  any  land  but  Lesbos ;  where  I  am,  the 
foe  will  seek  you."  Having  thus  spoken,  she 
sprang  forth  from  the  bed  in  frenzy,  refusing  to  put 
off  her  agony  for  a  moment.  She  cannot  bear  to 
clasp  in  her  dear  arms  the  breast  or  head  of  her 
sorrowing  husband,  and  the  last  chance  of  enjoying 
their  long  and  faithful  love  was  thrown  away.  They 
hurry  their  grief  to  an  end,  and  neither  had  the 
iieart  to  say  a  parting  farewell.  Of  their  whole  lives 
this  was  the  saddest  day.  For  all  the  losses  that 
were  to  follow  were  borne  with  hearts  already 
strengthened  and  steeled  by  misfortune. 

The  hapless  lady  swooned  and  fell,  but  was  caught 
in  the  arms  of  her  attendants  and  carried  towards 
the  sea-sands.  Tliere  she  fell  down  and  clutched 
the  very  strand,  till  at  last  she  was  borne  on  ship- 
board. She  had  suffered  less  when  she  left  her 
native  land  and  the  harbours  of  Italy,  hard  pressed 
by  the  armies  of  cruel  Caesar.  Once  the  faithful 
companion  of  Magnus,  now  she  departs  without  him, 
leaving  him  behind  in  her  flight.  The  next  night 
she  spent  brought  her  no  sleep :  her  bed  was 
widowed  for  the  first  time  ;  its  coldness  and  silence 
were  strange  to  her  in  her  solitude ;  and  her  side 

299 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  haerente  latus.     Somno  quam  saepe  gravata 
Deceptis  vacuum  manibus  conplexa  cubile  est 
Atque  oblita  fugae  quaesivit  nocte  maritum  !  810 

Nam  quamvis  flamma  tacitas  urente  medullas 
Non  iuvat  in  toto  corpus  iactare  cubili : 
Servatur  pars  ilia  tori.     Caruisse  timebat 
Pompeio ;  sed  non  superi  tarn  laeta  parabant  : 
Instabat  miserae,  Magnum  quae  redderet,  liora.  816 


300 


BOOK  V 

was  unprotected,  with  no  husband  near  her.  How 
often,  weighed  down  by  drowsiness,  she  clasped  the 
empty  couch  with  cheated  arms !  How  often, 
forgetful  of  her  flight,  she  sought  her  husband  in  the 
darkness  !  For,  though  her  secret  heart  burned  with 
love's  fire,  she  would  not  toss  her  limbs  over  all  the 
bed,  but  abstained  from  touching  his  side  of  it.  She 
feared  that  she  had  lost  Pompey  for  ever ;  but 
Heaven  intended  a  worse  fate  than  that.  The  hour 
was  soon  coming  that  was  to  restore  Magnus  to  his 
unhappy  wife. 


301 


BOOK  VI 


iV. 


k 


LIBER    SEXTUS 

PosTQUAM  castra  duces  pugnae  iam  mente  propinquis 

Inposuere  iugis  admotaque  comminus  arma, 

Parque  suum  videre  dei,  capere  omnia  Caesar 

Moenia  Graiorum  spernit  Martemque  secundum 

lam  nisi  de  genero  fatis  debere  recusat.  6 

Funestam  mundo  votis  petit  omnibus  horam, 

In  casum  quae  cuncta  ferat ;  placet  alea  fati 

Alterutrum  mersura  caput.     Ter  collibus  omnes 

Explicuit  turmas  et  signa  minantia  pugnam 

Testatus  numquam  Latiae  se  desse  ruinae.  10 

Ut  videt  ad  nullos  exciri  posse  tumultus 

In  pugnam  generum  sed  clauso  fidere  vallo, 

Signa  mo  vet  tectusque  via  dumosa  per  arva 

Dyrrachii  praeceps  rapiendas  tendit  ad  arces. 

Hoc  iter  aequoreo  piaecepit  limite  Magnus,  16 

Quemque  vocat  collem  Taulantius  incola  Petram, 

Insedit  castris  Ephyreaque  moenia  servat 

Defendens  tutam  vel  solis  rupibus  ^  urbem. 

Non  opus  banc  veterum  nee  moles  structa  tuetiir 

Humanusque  labor  facilis,  licet  ardua  tollat,  20 

Cedere  vel  bellis  vel  cuncta  moventibus  annis, 

Sed  munimen  habet  nullo  quassabile  ferro 

Naturam  sedemque  loci ;  nam  clausa  profundo 

1  rupibus  Dorville :  turribus  M88. 


^  Ephyra  is  the  ancient  name  of  Corinth.     Dyrrachium  (also 
called  Epidanmus)  was  a  Corinthian  colony. 


BOOK   VI 

Thus  the  leaders,  with  minds  now  made  up  for 
battle,  had  pitched  their  camps  on  neighbouring 
heights,  the  armies  were  brought  face  to  face,  and 
the  gods  saw  their  pair  of  combatants  before  them  ; 
and  Caesar,  too  proud  to  take  city  after  city  of  the 
Greeks,  refused  to  accept  from  fate  any  further 
victory  except  over  his  kinsman.  All  his  prayers 
were  for  that  hour,  fatal  to  the  worlds  that  should 
stake  all  on  a  cast  of  the  die ;  he  chose  the  hazard 
of  destiny  that  must  destroy  one  head  or  the  other. 
Thrice  he  deployed  upo2i  the  hills  all  his  squadrons 
and  warlike  standards,  and  proved  that  he  was 
never  backward  in  the  overthrow  of  Rome.  But 
when  he  saw  that  Pompey,  trusting  to  his  ring  of 
entrenchments,  could  not  be  drawn  forth  to  battle 
by  any  demonstrations,  he  struck  his  camp  and 
marched  in  haste  to  seize  the  fortress  of  Dyrrachium 
through  a  wooded  country  that  concealed  his 
movements.  Pompey  forestalled  this  march  by 
following  the  coast-line ;  encamping  on  the  hill 
which  the  Taulantians  call  Petra,  he  protected  the 
Corinthian  city  ^ — a  city  which  its  cliffs  alone  keep 
safe.  No  work  of  ancient  times  protects  it,  nor 
masonry  piled  by  men's  hands,  which,  though  it 
raise  its  structures  high,  falls  an  easy  prey  to  the 
besieger  or  all-destroying  time  ;  its  natural  position 
is  a  protection  that  no  engine  can  shatter.     On  all 

305 

VOU   I.  I 


xM.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Undique  praecipiti  scopulisque  vomentibus  aequoT 
Exiguo  debet,  quod  non  est  insula,  colli.  25 

Terribiles  ratibus  sustentant  moenia  cautes, 
loniumque  furens,  rabido  cum  tollitur  Austro, 
Templa  domosque  quatit,  spumatque  in  culmina  pontus. 

Hie  avidam  belli  rapuit  spes  inproba  mentem 
Caesaris,  ut  vastis  diffusum  collibus  hostem  30 

Cingeret  ignarum  ducto  procul  aggere  valli. 
Metatur  terras  oculis,  nee  caespite  tantum 
Contentus  fragili  subitos  attollere  muros 
Ingentes  cautes  avolsaque  saxa  metallis 
Graiorumque  domos  direptaque  moenia  transfert.         35 
Extruitur,  quod  non  aries  inpellere  saevus. 
Quod  non  ulla  queat  violenti  machina  belli. 
Franguntur  montes,  planumque  per  ardua  Caesar 
Ducit  opus  :  pandit  fossas  turritaque  summis 
Disponit  castella  iugis  magnoque  recessu  40 

Amplexus  fines  saltus  nemorosaque  tesqua 
Et  silvas  vastaque  feras  indagine  claudit. 
Non  desunt  campi,  non  desunt  pabula  Magno, 
Castraque  Caesareo  circumdatus  aggere  mutat : 
Flumina  tot  cursus  illic  exorta  fatigant,  46 

Illic  mersa  suos ;  operumque  ut  summa  revisat, 
Defessus  Caesar  mediis  intermanet  agris. 

Nunc  vetus  Iliacos  attollat  fabula  muros 
Ascribatque  deis  ;  fragili  circumdata  testa 
Moenia  mirentur  refugi  Babylonia  Parthi.  60 

*  The  distances  were  so  great  that  direct  measurement  of 
the  ground  was  not  practicable. 

306 


BOOK   VI 

sides  it  is  surrounded  by  sea  deep  up  to  the  sliore, 
and  by  cliffs  that  spout  forth  the  sea- water;  and 
only  a  hill  of  moderate  size  prevents  it  from  being 
an  island.  Precipices  dreaded  by  ships  support  its 
walls ;  and  the  raging  Ionian  sea,  when  lifted  up  by 
Southern  gales,  shakes  its  temples  and  houses,  and 
hurls  the  spray  to  its  highest  roofs. 

Here  Caesar's  mind,  eager  for  war,  was  caught  by 
an  extravagant  design  :  though  the  enemy's  forces 
were  scattered  over  a  wide  extent  of  hills,  he  planned 
to  draw  a  distant  line  of  entrenchments  and  surround 
them  without  their  knowing  it.  He  used  his  eyes  ^ 
to  survey  the  ground ;  and,  not  content  merely  to 
rear  hasty  walls  of  crumbling  turf,  he  carries  for  his 
use  huge  boulders  and  blocks  torn  from  the  quarries, 
whole  houses  of  the  natives  and  dismantled  city- 
walls.  A  structure  rose,  that  no  fierce  battering-ram 
nor  any  engine  of  forceful  war  could  overthrow.  The 
mountains  were  broken  through,  and  Caesar  carried 
his  works  of  even  height  across  the  hills  ;  he  opens 
up  trenches  and  builds  turreted  forts  at  intervals  on 
the  tops  of  ridges  ;  with  a  wide  concave  line  he 
takes  in  territories  and  upland  lawns,  wooded  wastes 
and  forests,  and  encloses  the  wild  animals  with  far- 
flung  snare.  Magnus  had  plains  and  fodder  in 
abundance,  and  shifted  his  camp  within  the  circle  of 
Caesar's  lines  ;  within  that  space  many  rivers  take 
their  rise  and  run  their  restless  course  down  to  the 
sea  ;  and,  when  Caesar  wishes  to  inspect  his  most 
distant  works,  he  rests  a  while  from  his  weariness 
when  half-way  round. 

After  this,  let  ancient  legend  praise  the  walls  of 
Troy  and  ascribe  the  building  to  the  gods ;  let 
Parthians,  who  fight  retreating,  marvel  at  the  brick 

307 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

En  quantum  Tigris,  quantum  celer  ambit  Orontes, 

Assyriis  quantum  populis  telluris  Eoae 

Sufficit  in  regnum,  subitum  bellique  tumultu 

Raptum  clausit  opus.     Tanti  periere  labores. 

Tot  potuere  manus  aut  iungere  Seston  Abydo  66 

Ingestoque  solo  Phrixeum  elidere  pontum, 

Aut  Pelopis  latis  Ephyren  abrumpere  regnis 

Et  ratibus  longae  flexus  donare  Maleae, 

Aut  aliquem  mundi,  quamvis  natura  negasset. 

In  melius  mutare  locum.     Coit  area  belli :  60 

Hie  alitur  sanguis  terras  fluxurus  in  omnes. 

Hie  et  Thessalicae  clades  Libycaeque  tenentur ; 

Aestuat  angusta  rabies  civilis  harena. 

Prima  quidem  surgens  operum  structura  fefellit 
Pompeium,  veluti  mediae  qui  tutus  in  arvis  C5 

Sicaniae  rabidum  nescit  latrare  Pelorum, 
Aut,  vaga  cum  Tethys  Rutupinaque  litora  fervent, 
Unda  Caledonios  fallit  turbata  Britannos. 
Ut  primum  vasto  saeptas  videt  aggere  terras, 
Ipse  quoque  a  tuta  deducens  agmina  Petra  70 

Diversis  spargit  tumulis,  ut  Caesaris  arma 
Laxet  et  effuso  claudentem  milite  tendat ; 
Ac  tantum  saepti  vallo  sibi  vindicat  agri, 
Parva  Mycenaeae  quantum  sacrata  Dianae 
Distat  ab  excelsa  nemoralis  Aricia  Roma,  75 

^  See  n.  to  i.  10. 

*  The  meaning  is  that  the  space  enclosed  by  Caesar's  lines  is 
equal  to  the  area  of  Mesopotamia  or  Syria. 

^  I.e.  it  might  have  been  better  spent.  *  The  Hellespont. 

*  The  battles  of  Pharsalia  and  Thapsus  are  meant. 

*  I.e.  the  dogs  of  Scylla:  cf.  i.  548. 

30S 


BOOK   VI 

walls  round  Babylon.^  Behold  !  a  space  as  great  as 
is  surrounded  by  the  Tigris  or  swift  Orontes  ^ — a 
s})ace  large  enough  to  form  a  kingdom  for  the 
Assyrian  nations  of  the  East — is  here  enclosed  by 
works  hastily  thrown  up  in  the  stress  of  war.  But 
all  that  labour  was  wasted.^  Such  an  army  of  busy 
hands  might  have  joined  Sestos  to  Abydos,  piling  up 
soil  till  the  sea  of  Phrixus  *  was  forced  from  its  place  ; 
they  might  have  torn  Corinth  loose  from  the  wide 
realm  of  Pelops,  so  as  to  save  ships  from  the  long 
circuit  of  Cape  Malea ;  or  they  might,  in  defiance  of 
Nature,  have  changed  for  the  better  some  other 
region  of  earth.  The  field  of  war  was  now  con- 
tracted ;  here  is  preserved  the  blood  that  will  flow 
hereafter  over  every  land ;  here  the  victims  of 
Thessaly  and  the  victims  of  Africa  ^  are  penned  up  ; 
the  madness  of  civil  war  seethes  within  narrow 
lists. 

The  construction  of  these  works  passed  unnoticed 
by  Pompey  when  first  they  rose :  so  he  who  dwells 
safe  in  the  centre  of  Sicily  knows  not  that  the  mad 
dogs  of  Pelorus  ®  are  barking ;  or  when  the  tides  of 
Ocean  and  the  Rutupian  shore  are  raging,  the  stormy 
waves  are  not  heard  by  the  Britons  of  the  North. 
But  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  his  position  was  shut  in 
by  a  wide  entrenchment,  he  too  led  down  his  forces 
from  the  protection  of  Petra  and  scattered  them 
upon  different  heights,  hoping  to  relax  the  pressure 
of  Caesar's  army,  and  to  put  a  strain  upon  him,  as  he 
carried  on  the  blockade  with  scattered  troops.  For 
himself  he  claims  a  space  surrounded  by  a  palisade 
— a  space  equal  to  the  distance  that  divides  lofty 
Rome  from  little  Aricia  with  its  grove,  sacred  to 
Diana  of  Mycenae  ;  and  in  the  same  distance  Tiber 

309 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quoque  modo  terrae  praelapsus  moenia  Thybris 

In  mare  descendit,  si  nusquam  torqueat  amnem. 

Classica  nulla  sonant  iniussaque  tela  vagantur, 

Et  fit  saepe  nefas  iaculum  temptante  lacerto. 

Maior  cura  duces  miscendis  abstrahit  armis  :  80 

Pompeium  exhaustae  praebenda  ad  gramina  terrae. 

Quae  currens  obtrivit  eques,  gradibusque  citatis 

Ungula  frondentem  discussit  cornea  campum. 

Belliger  attonsis  sonipes  defessus  in  arvis, 

Advectos  cum  plena  ferant  praesepia  culmos,  85 

Ore  novas  poscens  moribundus  labitur  herbas 

Et  tremulo  medios  abrumpit  poplite  gyros. 

Corpora  dum  solvit  tabes  et  digerit  artus, 

Traxit  iners  caelum  fluvidae  contagia  pestis 

Obscuram  in  nubem.     Tali  spiramine  Nesis  90 

Emittit  Stygium  nebulosis  aera  saxis, 

Antraque  letiferi  rabiem  Typhonis  anhelant, 

Inde  labant  populi,  caeloque  paratior  unda 

Omne  pati  virus  duravit  viscera  caeno. 

lam  riget  arta  cutis  distentaque  lumina  rumpit,  95 

Igneaque  in  voltus  et  sacro  fervida  morbo 

Pestis  abit,  fessumque  caput  se  ferre  recusat. 

lam  magis  atque  magis  praeceps  agit  omnia  fatum. 

Nee  medii  dirimunt  morbi  vitamque  necemque, 

Sed  languor  cum  morte  venit ;  turbaque  cadentum    100 

Aucta  lues,  dum  mixta  iacent  incondita  vivis 

Corpora ;  nam  miseros  ultra  tentoria  cives 

Spargere  funus  erat.     Tamen  hos  minuere  labores 

^  A  strangely  indirect  way  of  saying  that  Pompey's  lines 
were  about  15  miles  long. 

*  Now  Nisida,  a  small  island  in  the  Bay  of  Naples,  which 
was  ouce  volcanic. 

^  The  eruptions  of  this  and  other  volcanoes  were  attributed 
to  the  struggles  of  a  Giant  imprisoned  under  the  mountain. 

310 


BOOK   VI 

that  flows  by  the  walls  of  Rome  would  reach  the  sea, 
if  the  stream  made  no  bend  at  any  point.^  No  war- 
note  sounds ;  missiles  fly  to  and  fro  unbidden,  and 
many  a  murder  is  done  when  the  arm  is  merely 
testing  the  javelin.  A  more  pressing  anxiety 
restrains  the  leaders  from  joining  battle.  Pompey 
was  prevented  by  the  failure  of  the  district  to 
provide  fodder :  the  horsemen  in  their  speed  had 
trodden  it  down,  when  the  horny  hoofs  galloped  over 
the  grassy  plain  and  tore  it  up.  The  war-horse 
flagged  on  the  close-cropped  fields ;  and  though  the 
well-fille4  mangers  offered  him  imported  hay,  he 
neighed  for  fresh  grass  as  he  fell  down  to  die,  and 
stopped  short  with  quivering  haunches  in  the  act 
of  wheeling.  While  their  bodies  rotted  away  and 
parted  limb  from  limb,  the  stagnant  air  drew  up  the 
infection  of  that  putrefying  plague  into  a  murky  cloud. 
With  such  an  exhalation  Nesis  ^  sends  forth  a  deathly 
atmosphere  from  her  misty  rocks,  while  the  caverns 
of  Typhon  ^  breathe  forth  death  and  madness.  The 
men  were  stricken  next ;  and  the  water,  ever  readier 
than  air  to  absorb  poison,  made  hard  their  inward 
parts  with  its  foulness.  Now  the  skin  grew  tight 
and  hard,  causing  the  straining  eyes  to  start  out,  and 
the  fiery  plague,  inflamed  with  erysipelas,  moved  to 
the  face ;  and  the  heavy  head  refused  to  carry  its 
own  weight.  Swift  death,  ever  more  and  more, 
swept  all  away  ;  no  interval  of  sickness  divided  death 
from  life,  but  death  kept  pace  with  the  ailment ;  and 
the  pestilence  was  made  worse  by  the  crowd  of 
victims,  because  unburied  bodies  lay  in  contact  with 
the  living.  For  to  cast  out  the  corpses  of  their 
hapless  countrymen  beyond  the  circle  of  tents  was 
all  the  burial  that  men  gave.     Nevertheless,  these 

311 


M.  ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

A  tergo  pelagus  pulsusque  Aquilonibus  aer 

Litoraque  et  plenae  peregrina  messe  carinae.  105 

At  liber  terrae  spatiosis  collibus  hostis 

Aere  non  pigro  nee  inertibus  angitur  undis, 

Sed  patitur  saevam,  veluti  circumdatus  arta 

Obsidione,  famem.      Nondum  turgentibiis  altam 

In  segetem  culmis  cernit  iniserabile  volgus  110 

In  pecudum  cecidisse  cibos  et  carpere  dumos 

Et  foliis  spoliare  nemus  letumque  minantes 

Vellere  ab  ignotis  dubias  radicibus  herbas. 

Quae  mollire  queunt  flamma,  quae  frangere  raorsu, 

Quaeque  per  abrasas  utero  demittere  fauces,  115 

Plurimaque  humanis  ante  hoc  incognita  mensis 

Diripiens  miles  saturum  tamen  obsidet  hostem, 

Ut  primum  libuit  ruptis  evadere  claustris 
Pompeio  cunctasque  sibi  permittere  terras, 
Non  obscura  petit  latebrosae  tempora  noctis,  120 

Et  raptum  furto  soceri  cessantibus  armis 
Dedignatur  iter  :  latis  exire  minis 
Quaerit,  et  inpulso  turres  confringere  vallo, 
Perque  omnes  gladios  et  qua  via  caede  paranda  est. 
Opportuna  tamen  valli  pars  visa  propinqui,  125 

Qua  Minici  castella  vacant,  et  confraga  densis 
Arboribus  dumeta  tegunt.     Hue  pulvere  nullo 
Proditus  agmen  agit  subitusque  in  moenia  venit. 
Tot  simul  e  campis  Latiae  fulsere  volucres. 
Tot  cecinere  tubae.     Ne  quid  victoria  ferro  130 

1  He  proceeds  to  explain  why  Caesar  also  was  unable  to  fight 
a  battle. 

*  The  origin  of  the  name  is  unknown. 


BOOK    VI 

calamities  were  lessened  by  the  sea  at  their  backs 
and  the  air  set  in  motion  by  the  North  wind,  by  the 
shore  and  the  ships  laden  with  foreign  corn.  Caesar's 
army,^  on  the  other  hand,  encamped  on  spacious 
heights  and  free  to  range  the  earth,  was  not  troubled 
by  stifling  air  or  stagnant  waters  ;  but  they  suffered 
from  the  pinch  of  hunger  like  men  closely  be- 
sieged. The  corn-blades  were  not  yet  swelling  to 
the  height  of  harvest ;  and  therefore  Caesar  saw  his 
wretched  men  lying  on  the  ground  to  eat  the  food 
of  beasts,  plucking  the  bushes,  rifling  the  trees  of 
their  leaves,  and  culling  from  strange  roots  suspicious 
plants  that  threatened  death.  The  men  fought  for 
food — whatever  they  could  soften  with  fire,  or  break 
with  their  teeth,  or  swallow  down  with  rasped  gullets, 
and  many  things  never  tried  before  for  human 
consumption ;  and  yet  they  went  on  besieging  a 
well-fed  foe. 

When  Pompey  first  saw  fit  to  burst  his  barriers  and 
sally  forth,  and  to  allow  himself  the  range  of  all  the 
earth,  he  did  not  seek  the  darkness  and  cover  of 
night,  but  scorned  to  steal  a  march  while  Caesar's 
army  rested.  He  desired  to  pass  out  through  a  wide 
breach,  overthrowing  the  ramparts  and  breaking 
down  the  towers ;  to  face  every  armed  foe  and  take 
a  path  that  bloodshed  must  open  up.  Yet  a  section 
of  the  rampart  that  lay  near  seemed  to  suit  his 
purpose  ;  here  the  fortress  of  Minicius  2  afforded  an 
open  space,  and  the  broken  wooded  ground  screened 
him  with  a  covering  of  trees.  Hither  he  marched 
his  men  ;  no  cloud  of  dust  betrayed  him  and  he 
reached  the  wall  unexpected.  Then  all  at  once  the 
Roman  eagles  glittered  from  the  plain,  and  his 
trumpets  all  sounded.     That  his  victory  might  owe 

313 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Deberet,  pavor  attonitos  confecerat  hostes. 

Quod  solum  valuit  virtus,  iacuere  perempti 

Debuerant  quo  stare  loco.     Qui  volnera  ferrent, 

lam  deraiit,  et  nimbus  agens  tot  tela  peribat. 

Turn  piceos  volvunt  inmissae  lampades  ignes,  135 

Turn  quassae  nutant  turres  lapsumque  minantur. 

Roboris  inpacti  crebros  gemit  agger  ad  ictus. 

lam  Pompeianae  celsi  super  ardua  valli 

Exierant  aquilae,  iam  mundi  iura  patebant : 

Quern  non  mille  simul  turmis  nee  Caesare  toto  140 

Auferret  Fortuna  locum,  victoribus  unus 

Eripuit  vetuitque  capi,  seque  arma  tenente 

Ac  nondum  strato  Magnum  vicisse  negavit. 

Scaeva  viro  nomen  :  castrorum  in  plebe  merebat 

Ante  feras  Rhodani  gentes  ;  ibi  sanguine  multo  145 

Promotus  Latiam  longo  gerit  ordine  vitem, 

Pronus  ad  omne  nefas  et  qui  nesciret,  in  armis 

Quam  magnum  virtus  crimen  civilibus  esset. 

Hie  ubi  quaerentes  socios  iam  Marte  relicto 

Tuta  fugae  cernit,  "Quo  vos  pavor,"  inquit  " adegit  150 

Inpius  et  cunctis  ignotus  Caesaris  armis  ? 

Terga  datis  morti  ?  cumulo  vos  desse  virorum 

Non  pudet  et  bustis  interque  cadavera  quaeri  ? 

Non  ira  saltem,  iuvenes,  pietate  remota  156 

Stabitis .''     E  cunctis,  per  quos  erumperet  hostis, 

Nos  sumus  electi.     Non  parvo  sanguine  Magni 

Iste  dies  ierit.     Peterem  felicior  umbras 

*■  The  darts  themselves  form  the  tempest. 
•  I.e.  before  the  war  in  Gaul. 

'  This  seems  inooiisistent  with  the  statement  of  11.  132  f. 
that  all  the  defenders  of  this  post  had  been  killed. 


BOOK   VI 

nothing  to  the  sword,  the  alarm  and  surprise  had 
already  disposed  of  the  enemy.  All  that  valour 
could  do  they  did :  they  lay  dead  at  the  post  where 
duty  bade  them  stand.  There  were  no  longer  any 
men  to  be  wounded,  and  the  tempest  ^  that  bore 
those  many  darts  was  wasted.  Then  torches  were 
hurled,  rolling  smoky  fires ;  then  the  battered  towers 
reeled  and  threatened  to  fall ;  and  the  mound 
echoed  under  the  repeated  blows  of  the  timber 
hurled  against  it.  Now  Pompey's  eagles  had  passed 
out  over  the  top  of  the  high  rampart ;  now  the 
freedom  of  the  whole  world  was  before  them.  But 
though  Fortune  with  a  thousand  squadrons  combined 
and  all  Caesar's  might  could  not  make  good  the  post, 
one  man  snatched  it  from  the  conquerors  and  forbade 
its  capture :  "  While  I  still  wield  my  weapons  and 
have  not  yet  been  laid  low,  Magnus  has  not  yet 
been  victorious,"  he  cried.  Scaeva  was  his  name  ; 
he  served  in  the  ranks  before  the  fierce  tribes  of  the 
Rhone  were  heard  of;^  there  he  got  promotion  by 
shedding  much  of  his  blood  and  carried  the  Roman 
vine-staff  in  the  long  line  of  centurions.  Ready  for 
any  wickedness,  he  knew  not  that  valour  in  civil  war 
is  a  heinous  crime.  When  he  saw  his  comrades' 
drop  their  arms  and  seek  safety  in  flight,  *'  Whither," 
he  cried,  "  has  fear  driven  you — disloyal  fear  that  no 
soldier  of  Caesar's  has  ever  felt  ?  Do  you  turn  your 
backs  on  death  ?  Are  you  not  ashamed  that  you  are 
not  added  to  the  heap  of  gallant  dead,  and  that  you  are 
missing  among  the  corpses  ?  If  duty  be  disregarded, 
will  not  rage  at  least  make  you  stand  your  ground, 
ye  soldiers  ?  The  enemy  has  chosen  us  out  of  all 
the  army  to  sally  forth  through  our  ranks.  This 
day  shall  cost  Magnus  not  a  little  blood.     I  should 

315 


M.  ANNAEUS    LIJCANUS 

Caesaris  in  voltu  :  testem  hunc  fortuna  negavit : 
Pompeio  laudante  cadam.      Confringite  tela  160 

Pectoris  inpulsu  iugulisque  retundite  ferrum. 
lam  longinqiia  petit  pulvis  soiiitusque  ruinae, 
Securasque  fragor  concussit  Caesaris  aures. 
Vineimus,  o  socii :  veniet,  qui  vindicet  arces, 
Dum  morimur."     Movit  tantum  vox  ilia  furorem,       165 
Quantum  non  primo  succendunt  classica  cantu, 
Mirantesque  virum  atque  avidi  spectare  secuntur 
Scituri  iuveneSj  numero  deprensa  locoque 
An  plus  quam  mortem  virtus  daret.     Ille  ruenti 
Aggere  consistit,  primumque  cadavera  plenis  170 

Turribus  evolvit  subeuntesque  obruit  hostes 
Corporibus  ;  totaeque  viro  dant  tela  ruinae, 
Roboraque  et  moles  hosti  seque  ipse  minatur. 
Nunc  sude,  nunc  duro  contraria  pectora  conto 
Detrudit  muris,  et  valli  summa  tenentes  175 

Amputat  ense  manus ;  caput  obterit  ossaque  saxo 
Ac  male  defensum  fragili  conpage  cerebrum 
Dissipat ;  alterius  flamma  crinesque  genasque 
Succendit ;  strident  oculis  ardentibus  ignes. 

Ut  primum  cumulo  crescente  cadavera  murum        180 
Admovere  solo,  non  segnior  extulit  ilium 
Saltus  et  in  medias  iecit  super  arma  catervas, 
Quam  per  summa  rapit  celerem  venabula  pardum. 
Tunc  densos  inter  cuneos  conpressus  et  omni 
Vallatus  bello  vincit,  quem  respicit,  hostem.  185 


*  I.e.  victory.  ^  The  skull. 

*  He  is  now  surrounded  by  enemiea. 


3t6 


BOOK    VI 

die  happier  with  Caesar  watching;  as  chance  has 
denied  me  his  presence,  Pompey  shall  praise  me  as  I 
fall.  Dash  your  breasts  against  their  weapons  till 
you  break  them ;  blunt  the  edge  of  their  steel  with 
your  life-blood.  Already  the  dust  and  noise  of 
destruction  are  rolling  far  away,  and  the  ear  of 
Caesar,  fearing  no  danger,  has  been  smitten  by  the 
crashing  sound.  We  are  conquerors,  my  comrades : 
while  we  are  dying,  he  will  come  to  assert  his  right 
to  the  stronghold."  His  words  roused  greater  fury 
than  the  war-note  kindles  with  its  first  blast : 
marvelling  at  Scaeva  and  eager  to  watch  him,  the 
soldiers  follow,  to  find  out  whether  valour,  out- 
numbered and  entrapped,  could  give  them  aught 
more  than  death. ^  Taking  his  stand  on  the  tottering 
mound,  Scaeva  first  rolled  out  the  corpses  that  filled  the 
towers,  and  buried  the  assailants  under  dead  bodies. 
All  the  falling  fabric  supplies  him  with  weapons  :  he 
threatens  the  foe  with  wooden  beams,  blocks  of 
stone,  and  his  own  body.  Now  with  stakes,  now 
with  tough  poles,  he  dislodges  from  the  wall  the 
breasts  of  the  adversaries  ;  his  sword  cuts  off  the 
hands  that  clutch  the  battlements ;  with  a  stone  he 
crushes  one  man's  head  and  skull,  scattering  the 
brains  ill  protected  by  their  brittle  covering  :  ^  he 
sets  fire  to  the  hair  and  beard  of  another,  and 
the  flames  crackle  as  the  eyes  burn. 

The  heap  of  dead  rose  till  it  made  the  ground 
level  with  the  wall ;  at  once  he  sprang  off  and 
hurled  himself  over  their  weapons  into  the  centre 
of  the  foe,  swift  as  a  leopard  springs  over  the  points 
of  the  spears.  Then  wedged  tight  among  the  ranks 
and  encompassed  by  a  whole  army,  he  slays  a  man 
whom  he  looks  behind*  to  see.     No  longer  can  his 


M.  ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

lamque  hebes  et  crasso  non  asper  sanguine  mucro 

Perdidit  ensis  opus,  frangit  sine  volnere  membra.        188 

Ilium  tota  premit  moles,  ilium  omnia  tela : 

Nulla  fuit  non  certa  manus,  non  lancea  felix,  190 

Parque  novum  Fortuna  videt  concurrere,  bellnm 

Atque  virum.     Fortis  crebris  sonat  ictibus  umbo, 

Et  galeae  fragmenta  cavae  conpressa  perurunt 

Tempora,  nee  quidquam  nudis  vitalibus  obstat 

lam  praeter  stantes  in  summis  ossibus  hastas.  196 

Quid  nunc,  vaesani,  iaculis  levibusve  sagittis 
Perditis  haesuros  numquam  vitalibus  ictus  ? 
Hunc  aut  tortilibus  vibrata  falarica  nervis 
Obruat  aut  vasti  muralia  pondera  saxi ; 
Hunc  aries  ferro  ballistaque  limine  portae  200 

Promoveat.     Stat  non  fragilis  pro  Caesare  murus 
Pompeiumque  tenet.     lam  pectora  non  tegit  ariiiis, 
Ac  veritus  credi  clipeo  laevaque  vacasse 
Aut  culpa  vixisse  sua,  tot  volnera  belli 
Solus  obit  densamque  ferens  in  pectore  silvam  206 

lam  gradibus  fessis,  in  quem  cadat,  eligit  hostem. 
Sic  Libycus  densis  elephans  oppressus  ab  armis 
Omne  repercussum  squalenti  missile  tergo 
Frangit  et  haerentes  mota  cute  discutit  hastas ; 
Viscera  tuta  latent  penitus,  citraque  cruorem  210 

Confixae  stant  tela  ferae  :  tot  facta  sagittis. 
Tot  iaculis,  unam  non  explent  volnera  mortem. 
Dictaea  procul  ecce  manu  Gortynis  harundo 
Tenditur  in  Scaevam,  quae  voto  certior  omni  216 


1  Cretan:  Gortyn  was  a  city  of  Crete. 

318 


BOOK   VI 

sword-point  do  the  duty  of  a  sword :  dulled  and 
blunted  by  coagulated  blood,  it  bruises  but  cannot 
wound.  AH  the  host  and  all  the  weapons  make  him 
their  sole  object;  no  hand  missed  its  aim,  no  lance 
failed  of  its  mark;  and  Fortune  sees  a  new  pair 
meet  in  combat — a  man  against  an  army.  The  stout 
boss  of  his  shield  rings  with  repeated  blows;  his 
hollow  helmet,  battered  to  pieces,  galls  the  forehead 
which  it  covers;  and  nothing  any  longer  protects 
his  exposed  vitals  except  the  spears  which  stick  fast 
when  they  reach  his  bones. 

Fools !  why  waste  your  shots  of  light  javelins  and 
arrows?  They  can  never  reach  the  seat  of  life.  To 
crush  him,  you  must  use  either  a  missile  sped  by 
twisted  cords,  or  the  wall-battering  weight  of  a 
huge  boulder;  to  drive  him  from  the  threshold  of 
the  gate,  an  iron  battering-ram  and  a  catapult  are 
needed.  He  stands  fast,  a  stone  wall  in  defence  of 
Caesar,  and  keeps  Pompey  at  bay.  He  ceases  to 
guard  his  breast  with  his  armour ;  and  fearing  to 
have  it  thought  that  his  left  hand  and  shield  are 
idle,  or  that  he  is  to  blame  for  surviving,  he  meets 
single-handed  all  the  wounds  of  war  and  carries  in 
his  breast  a  thick  forest  of  spears,  and  chooses,  with 
gait  grown  weary,  an  enemy  to  crush  in  his  fall.  So 
the  African  elephant,  when  attacked  by  a  throng  of 
assailants,  breaks  all  their  missiles  rebounding  from 
his  horny  hide,  and  twitches  his  skin  to  dislodge  the 
spears  sticking  in  his  body ;  his  vital  parts  are  safe 
and  hidden  far  below,  and  the  weapons  that  pierce 
him  and  stick  fast  draw  no  blood  from  the  animal ; 
the  wounds  of  countless  arrows  and  countless  javelins 
are  too  few  to  end  one  life.  But  see  !  a  Gortynian  ^ 
shaft,  aimed  from  a  distance  at  Scaeva  by  a  Cretan 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

In  caput  atque  oculi  laevom  descendit  in  orbera. 

Ille  moras  ferri  nervorum  et  vincula  rumpit 

Adfixam  vellens  oculo  pendente  sagittam 

Intrepidus,  telumque  suo  cum  lumine  calcat. 

Pannonis  baud  aliter  post  ictum  saevior  ursa,  220 

Cum  iacuhim  parva  Libys  ammentavit  habena, 

Se  rotat  in  volnus  telumque  irata  receptum 

Inpetit  et  secum  fugientem  circumit  hastam. 

Perdiderat  voltum  rabies,  stetit  imbre  cruento 

Informis  facies.     Laetus  fragor  aethera  pulsat  225 

Victorum ;  maiora  viris  e  sanguine  parvo 

Gaudia  non  faceret  conspectum  in  Caesare  volnus. 

Ille  tegens  alta  suppressum  mente  furorem 

Mitis  et  a  voltu  penitus  virtute  remota, 

"  Parcite,"  ait  "cives  ;  procul  hinc  avertite  ferrum.     2S0 

Conlatura  meae  nil  sunt  iam  volnera  morti : 

Non  eget  ingestis  sed  volsis  pectore  telis. 

Tollite  et  in  Magni  viventem  ponite  castris ; 

Hoc  vestro  praestate  duci ;  sit  Scaeva  relicti 

Caesaris  exemplum  potius  quam  mortis  honestae."      235 

Credidit  infelix  simulatis  vocibus  Aulus 

Nee  vidit  recto  gladium  mucrone  tenentem, 

Membraque  captivi  pariter  laturus  et  arma 

Fulmineum  mediis  excepit  faucibus  ensem. 

Incaluit  virtus,  atque  una  caede  refectus  240 

"  Solvat  "  ait  "poenas,  Scaevam  quicumque  subactum 


1  A  scene  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre  is  described  here. 
*  Aulus  is  a  fictitious  person,  but  Scaeva  is  historical,  though 
Lucan  absurdly  exaggerates  his  exploits. 

320 


BOOK    VI 

archer,  lights  on  his  head  and  pierces  tlie  ball  of  his 
left  eye — a  surer  shot  than  any  archer  could  pray  for. 
Together  with  the  steel  that  hampers  him,  Scaeva 
breaks  off  the  ligaments  of  the  muscles ;  boldly  he 
pulls  out  the  clinging  arrow  with  the  eye  hanging 
to  it,  and  treads  upon  arrow  and  eye  together. 
Even  so,  when  the  Libyan  ^  has  sped  his  javelin 
straight  by  means  of  a  little  thong,  the  Pannonian 
bear,  infuriated  by  the  wound,  whirls  round  towards 
the  injured  part ;  in  her  rage  she  attacks  the  weapon 
that  has  struck  her,  and  pursues  in  a  circle  the  spear 
that  flies  along  with  her.  Mad  rage  had  destroyed 
his  features;  his  mutilated  face  was  one  mass  of 
streaming  gore.  A  shout  from  his  conquerors  made 
the  welkin  ring ;  a  wound  seen  upon  Caesar's  self 
would  not  have  delighted  them  more,  by  reason  of  a 
little  blood.  Then  Scaeva  suppressed  his  rage  and 
hid  it  deep  in  his  heart;  banishing  martial  ardour 
far  from  his  features,  he  said  with  an  air  of  mild- 
ness :  "  S{)are  me,  fellow-citizens ;  take  far  away 
your  steel.  Wounds  can  no  longer  do  aught  to 
kill  me  ;  what  is  needed  is  not  to  hurl  fresh  weapons 
but  to  pluck  forth  from  my  breast  what  stick  there 
already.  Take  me  up  and  place  me  in  the  camp  of 
Magnus  before  I  die ;  do  this  service  for  your 
leader;  let  me  set  an  example  of  desertion  from 
Caesar,  and  not  of  glorious  death."  Ill-fated  Aulus  ^ 
was  taken  in  by  this  guileful  speech  ;  he  saw  not 
that  Scaeva  was  holding  his  sword  with  point  ready 
to  thrust;  he  was  in  act  to  lift  the  captive's  body 
and  his  weapons  together,  when  the  sword,  swift  as 
lightning,  struck  him  full  in  the  throat.  Scaeva's 
ardour  rose  :  the  slaughter  of  a  foe  was  the  sole 
remedy  for  his  plight :  "  if  any  believed  that  Scaeva 

^21 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Speravit ;  pacem  gladio  si  quaerit  ab  isto 

Magnus,  adorato  summittat  Caesare  signa. 

An  similem  vestri  segnemque  ad  fata  putatis  ? 

Pompei  vobis  minor  est  causaeque  senatus  245 

Quam  mihi  mortis  amor."     Simul  haec  effatur,  et  altus 

Caesareas  pulvis  testatur  adesse  cohortes. 

Dedecus  hie  belli  Magno  crimenque  remisit, 

Ne  solum  totae  fugerent  te,  Scaeva,  catervae. 

Subducto  qui  Marte  ruis  ;  nam  sanguine  fuso  260 

Vires  pugna  dabat.     Labentem  turba  suorum 

Excipit  atque  umeris  defectum  inponere  gaudet; 

Ac  velut  inclusum  perfosso  in  pectore  numen 

Et  vivam  magnae  speciem  Virtutis  adorant. 

Telaque  confixis  certant  evellere  merabris  255 

Exornantque  deos  ac  nudum  pectore  Martem 

Armis,  Scaeva,  tuis :  felix  hoc  nomine  famae. 

Si  tibi  durus  Hiber  aut  si  tibi  terga  dedisset 

Cantaber  exiguis  aut  longis  Teutonus  armis. 

Non  tu  bellorum  spoliis  ornare  Tonantis  260 

Templa  potes,  non  tu  laetis  ululare  triumphis. 

Infelix,  quanta  dominum  virtute  parasti ! 

Nee  magis  hac  Magnus  castrorum  parte  repulsus 
Intra  claustra  piger  dilato  Marte  quievit, 
Quam  mare  lassatur,  cum  se  tollentibus  Euris  265 

Frangentem  fluctus  scopulum  ferit  aut  latus  alti 
Montis  adest  seramque  sibi  parat  unda  ruinam. 


*  Mars   was   commonly   represented   as   carrying   spear   and 
shield  but  without  clothing. 

*  armis  seems  to  mean  '  defensive  armour.* 

322 


BOOK   VI 

was  conquered,  let  him  pay  the  penalty,"  he  cried ; 
"if  Magnus  wants  peace  from  my  sword,  first  let 
him  bow  his  head  and  sink  his  standards  before 
Caesar.  Think  you  that  I  am  like  yourselves  and 
unwilling  to  die?  Death  is  dearer  to  me  than 
Pompey  and  the  Senate's  cause  are  to  you."  Even 
as  he  spoke  these  words,  a  pillar  of  dust  showed  that 
cohorts  of  Caesar's  were  near ;  and  it  saved  Magnus 
from  shameful  defeat  and  from  the  reproach  of  having 
his  whole  force  routed  by  Scaeva  singlehanded. 
When  the  enemy  withdrew,  Scaeva  collapsed ;  for 
his  blood  was  all  spent,  and  only  fighting  gave  him 
strength.  Friends,  crowding  round,  caught  him  as 
he  fell  and  joyfully  raised  his  fainting  body  on  their 
shoulders ;  they  worshipped  the  deity  that  seemed 
to  dwell  in  that  mutilated  breast,  and  the  living 
semblance  of  the  great  goddess.  Valour.  They  vie 
with  one  another  in  plucking  the  weapons  forth 
from  his  pierced  limbs,  and  they  use  his  armour  to 
deck  the  statues  of  the  gods  and  of  Mars  with 
naked  breast.^  Happy  had  he  been  in  this  title 
to  fame,  had  he  routed  hardy  Iberians  or  Cantabrians 
with  their  targets  or  Teutons  with  their  long  shields.^ 
But  Scaeva  can  never  deck  the  Thunderer's  temple 
with  his  trophies  nor  shout  for  joy  in  the  triumph. 
Unhappy  wretch,  how  bravely  you  fought  that  a 
tyrant  might  rule  over  you! 

But  though  he  was  beaten  back  at  this  point  of 
the  lines,  Magnus  did  not  postpone  war  or  stay  idle 
within  his  enclosure,  any  more  than  the  sea  grows 
weary,  when  it  is  driven  by  rising  winds  against 
a  cliff  that  breaks  the  tide,  or  when  its  waves  gnaw 
the  side  of  a  high  mountain  and  so  prepare  an 
avalanche  for  themselves  in  time  to  come.    He  turned 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Hinc  vicina  petens  placido  castella  profundo 
Incursu  gemini  Martis  rapit,  armaque  late 
Spargit  et  efFuso  laxat  tentoria  campo, 
Mutandaeque  iuvat  permissa  licentia  terrae. 
Sic  pleno  Padus  ore  tumens  super  aggere  tutas 
Excurrit  ripas  et  totos  concutit  agros  ; 
Succubuit  si  qua  tellus  cumuloque  furentem 
Undarum  non  passa  ruit,  turn  fl amine  toto 
Transit  et  ignotos  operit  sibi  gurgite  campos: 
Illos  terra  fugit  dominos,  his  rura  colonis 
Accedunt  donante  Pado.     Vix  proelia  Caesar 
Senserat,  elatus  specula  quae  prodidit  ignis : 
Invenit  inpulsos  presso  iam  pulvere  muros, 
Frigidaque_,  ut  veteris,  deprendit  signa  ruinae. 
Accendit  pax  ipsa  loci,  movitque  furorem 
Pompeiana  quies  et  victo  Caesare  somnus. 
Ire  vel  in  clades  properat,  dum  gaudia  turbet. 
Torquato  ruit  inde  minax,  qui  Caesaris  arma 
Segnius  haud  vidit,  quam  malo  nauta  tremente 
Omnia  subducit  Circaeae  vela  procellae ; 
Agminaque  interius  muro  breviore  recepit, 
Densius  ut  parva  disponeret  arma  corona. 
Transierat  primi  Caesar  munimina  valli. 
Cum  super  ie  totis  immisit  collibus  arma 
Effuditque  acies  obsaeptum  Magnus  in  hostem. 
Non  sic  Hennaeis  habitans  in  vallibus  horret 
Enceladum  spirante  Noto,  cum  tota  cavernas 


324 


BOOK    VI 

his  arms  against  the  forts  that  lay  near  the  calm  sea, 
attacking  them  on  both  elements  at  once  ;  he  scat- 
tered his  forces  far  and  wide,  enlarging  his  bivouac 
on  the  broad  plain,  and  taking  advantage  of  the 
opportunity  to  shift  his  ground.  Thus  the  river 
Po,  swollen  with  brimming  estuary,  overflows  its 
banks  though  defended  by  dykes,  and  oversets  whole 
districts;  if  the  earth  anywhere  gives  way  and 
collapses,  unable  to  withstand  the  stream  raging 
with  its  crest  of  waters,  the  whole  river  passes  over 
and  drowns  plains  which  it  never  knew  before  ;  some 
owners  their  land  deserts,  while  others  gain  new 
acres  by  the  river's  gift.  Caesar  had  hardly  been 
aware  of  the  fighting ;  the  news  of  it  was  conveyed 
to  him  by  a  fire-signal  from  a  lofty  tower.  He 
found  the  walls  overthrown  and  the  dust  already 
laid ;  the  signs  of  destruction  that  met  him  were 
cold,  as  if  it  had  happened  long  ago.  His  rage  was 
kindled  and  stirred  by  the  very  peacefulness  of  the 
scene,  by  the  fact  that  the  Pompeians  were  idle  and 
took  their  rest  after  defeating  Caesar !  He  rushed 
on  even  into  disaster,  provided  he  could  disturb  their 
rejoicing.  He  flew  on  to  threaten  Torquatus ;  but 
Torquatus  bestirred  himself  at  sight  of  Caesar's 
troops,  as  briskly  as  the  sailor  furls  every  sail  on 
his  quivering  mast  before  the  gale  that  blows  off 
Circeii ;  so  Torquatus  led  back  his  men  behind  an 
inner  wall,  that  he  might  marshal  them  in  closer 
ranks  and  a  narrower  ring.  Caesar  had  already 
passed  the  defences  of  his  outmost  palisade,  when 
Magnus  launched  his  army  against  him  from  all  the 
heights  and  poured  out  his  forces  upon  a  foe  en- 
trapped. When  the  South  wind  blows  and  Etna 
discharges  all  her  caverns  and  runs  as  a  river  of  fire 

325 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Egerit  et  torrens  in  campos  defluit  Aetna,  295 

Caesaris  ut  miles  glomerato  pulvere  victus 

Ante  aciem  caeci  trepidus  sub  nube  timoris 

Hostibus  occurrit  fugiens  inque  ipsa  pavendo 

Fata  ruit.     Totus  mitti  civilibus  armis 

Usque  vel  in  pacem  potuit  cruor  :  ipse  furentes  300 

Dux  tenuit  gladios.      Felix  ac  libera  regum, 

Roma,  fores  iurisque  tui,  vicisset  in  illo 

Si  tibi  Sulla  loco.     Dolet  heu  semperque  dolebit, 

Quod  scelerum,  Caesar,  prodest  tibi  summa  tuorum. 

Cum  genero  pugnasse  pio.     Pro  tristia  fata  !  305 

Non  Uticae  Libye  clades,  Hispania  Mundae 

Flesset  et  infando  pollutus  sanguine  Nilus 

Nobilius  Phario  gestasset  rege  cadaver. 

Nee  luba  Marmaricas  nudus  pressisset  harenas 

Poenorumque  umbras  placasset  sanguine  fuso  310 

Scipio,  nee  sancto  caruisset  vita  Catone. 

Ultimus  esse  dies  potuit  tibi,  Roma,  malorum, 

Exire  e  mediis  potuit  Pharsalia  fatis. 

Deserit  averso  possessam  numine  sedem 
Caesar  et  Emathias  lacero  petit  agmine  terras.  316 

Arma  secuturum  soceri,  quacumque  fugasset, 
Temptavere  suo  comites  devertere  Magnum 
Hortatu,  patrias  sedes  atque  hoste  carentem 
Ausoniam  peteret.     "  Numquam  me  Caesaris,"  inquit 
"  Exemplo  reddam  patriae,  numquamque  videbit        320 
Me  nisi  dimisso  redeuntem  milite  Roma. 


^  See  n.  to  1.  92.  ^  The  corpse  of  Pompey. 

^  Metellus  Scipio,  Pompey's  present  father-in-law:   he  wasi 
descended  from  the  conqueror  of  Carthage. 

326 


BOOK   VI 

over  the  plains,  the  dwellers  in  the  vale  of  Henna 
dread  Enceladus  ;  ^  but  direr  dread  was  felt  then  by 
Caesar's  soldiers,  conquered  before  the  battle  by  the 
rolling  dust,  and  quaking  under  a  cloud  of  blind 
terror ;  flight  brings  them  face  to  face  with  the  foe, 
and  they  rush  straight  on  death  by  retreating.  Civil 
war  might  then  have  shed  its  last  drop  of  blood,  and 
peace  might  even  have  followed ;  but  Pompey  him- 
self kept  back  his  furious  soldiers.  Rome  might 
have  been  saved,  free  from  tyrants  and  mistress  of 
her  own  actions,  if  a  Sulla  had  won  that  victory  for 
her.  Grievous  alas !  is  it,  and  ever  will  be,  that 
Caesar  profited  by  his  worst  crime — his  fighting  against 
a  kinsman  who  had  scruples.  Out  upon  cruel  destiny  ! 
Libya  and  Spain  would  not  have  lamented  the  dis- 
asters at  Utica  and  Munda;  the  Nile,  defiled  by 
horrid  bloodshed,  would  not  have  borne  a  corpse^ 
nobler  than  the  King  of  Egypt ;  the  naked  body  of 
Juba  would  never  have  fallen  on  African  sands ; 
Scipio  ^  would  not  have  bled  to  appease  the  Cartha- 
ginian dead,  nor  would  the  land  of  the  living  have 
lost  the  stainless  Cato — that  day  might  have  ended 
Rome's  agony,  and  Pharsalia  might  have  been  blotted 
out  from  the  central  scroll  of  destiny. 

Caesar  abandoned  a  position  he  had  occupied  against 
the  will  of  Heaven,  and  made  for  the  land  of  Thessaly 
with  his  battered  forces.  Magnus  intended  to  pursue 
Caesar's  army  along  the  line  of  their  flight,  whatever 
it  might  be ;  and  when  his  officers  tried  to  turn  him 
from  his  purpose  and  urged  him  to  return  to  his 
native  land  of  Italy,  now  that  no  foe  was  there, 
**  Never,"  he  replied,  "shall  I  go  back  to  my  country 
in  Caesar's  fashion ;  never  shall  Rome  see  me  return 
before   I   have   disbanded  my  soldiers.     When  the 

327 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Hesperiam  potui  motu  surgente  tenere. 

Si  vellem  patriis  aciem  committere  templis 

Ac  medio  pugnare  foro.     Dum  bella  relegem, 

Extremum  Scythici  transcendam  frigoris  orbem  325 

Ardentesque  plagas.      Victor  tibi,  Roma,  quietem 

Eripiam,  qui,  ne  premerent  te  proelia,  fugi  ? 

A  potius,  ne  quid  bello  patiaris  in  isto, 

Te  Caesar  putet  esse  suam."     Sic  fatus  in  ortus 

Ptioebeos  condixit  iter,  terraeque  secutus  330 

Devia,  qua  vastos  aperit  Candavia  saltus, 

Contigit  Emathiam,  bello  quam  fata  parabant. 

Thessaliam,  qua  parte  diem  brumalibus  horis 
Attollit  Titan,  rupes  Ossaea  coercet ; 
Cum  per  summa  poli  Phoebum  trahit  altior  aestas,     335 
Pelion  opponit  radiis  nascentibus  umbras ; 
At  medios  ignes  caeli  rapidique  Leonis 
Solstitiale  caput  nemorosus  summovet  Othrys. 
Excipit  adversos  Zephyros  et  lapyga  Pindus 
Et  maturato  praecidit  vespere  lucem  ;  340 

Nee  metuens  imi  Borean  habitator  Olympi 
Lucentem  totis  ignorat  noctibus  Arcton. 
Hos  inter  montes,  media  qui  valle  premuntur, 
Perpetuis  quondam  latuere  paludibus  agri, 
Flumina  dum  campi  retinent  nee  pervia  Tempe  345 

Dant  aditus  pelagi,  stagnumque  inplentibus  unum 
Crescere  cursus  erat.      Postquam  discessit  Olympo 
Herculea  gravis  Ossa  manu  subitaeque  ruinam 
Sensit  aquae  Nereus,  melius  mansura  sub  undis 
Emathis  aequorei  regnum  Piiarsalos  Achillis  360 


^  Lucan  reverses  the  true  position  of  these  mountains :  Ossa 
is  on  the  N.E.  of  Thessaly,  Pelion  on  the  S.E. 

*  Thetis,  the  mother  of  Achilles,  was  a  sea  goddess. 

328 


BOOK   VI 

troubles  began,  I  might  have  held  Italy,  had  I  been 
willing  to  join  battle  in  the  Roman  temples  and 
fight  in  the  centre  of  the  Forum.  To  keep  war  far 
away,  I  would  go  beyond  the  uttermost  region  of 
Scythian  cold,  beyond  the  torrid  zone.  Shall  I,  who 
fled  from  Rome  to  save  her  from  war's  horrors,  rob 
her  of  peace  now  that  I  am  victorious?  Nay,  to 
spare  her  from  suffering  in  this  contest,  rather  let 
Caesar  reckon  her  as  his  own."  Thus  Pompey  spoke, 
and  gave  orders  for  marching  eastwards  ;  and  follow- 
ing a  devious  route,  where  Candavia  opens  out  its 
huge  defiles,  he  reached  Thessaly — the  land  which 
destiny  was  preparing  for  the  war, 

Thessaly  is  bounded  by  the  peak  of  Ossa  in  the 
quarter  where  the  sun  rises  in  winter;  and  when 
advancing  summer  makes  the  sun  move  through  the 
zenith,  Pelion  confronts  the  rising  beams  with  its 
shade.^  But  wooded  Othrys  repels  the  southern 
fires  of  the  sky  and  the  head  of  the  parching  Lion 
at  midsummer;  and  Pindus  faces  and  meets  the 
West  and  North-west  winds,  and  shortens  day  by 
hastening  on  evening ;  the  dweller  at  the  foot  of 
Olympus  never  dreads  the  North  wind,  and  knows 
nothing  of  the  Bear,  though  it  shine  all  night.  The 
land  which  lies  low  in  the  depression  between  these 
mountains  was  once  covered  over  with  continuous 
swamps ;  for  tlie  plains  detained  the  rivers,  nor  did 
the  outlet  of  Tempe  suffer  them  to  reach  the  sea ; 
they  filled  a  single  basin,  and  their  only  way  of 
running  was  to  rise.  But  when  the  weight  of  Ossa 
was  severed  from  Olympus  by  the  hand  of  Hercules, 
and  the  sea  first  felt  a  sudden  avalanche  of  waters, 
then  Thessalian  Pharsalos,  the  realm  of  sea-bom  ^ 
Achilles,  rose  above  the  surface — better  had  it  re- 

329 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Eminet  et,  prima  Rhoeteia  litora  pinu 

Quae  tetigit,  Phylace  Pteleosque  et  Dorion  ira 

Flebile  Pieridum  ;  Trachin  pretioque  nefandae 

Lampados  Herculeis  fortis  Meliboea  pharetris 

Atque  olim  Larisa  potens  ;  ubi  nobile  quondam  355 

Nunc  super  Argos  arant,  veteres  ubi  fabula  Thebas 

Monstrat  Echionias,  ubi  quondam  Pentheos  exul 

Colla  caputque  ferens  supremo  tradidit  igni 

Questa,  quod  hoc  solum  nato  rapuisset.  Agave. 

Ergo  abrupta  palus  multos  discessit  in  amnes.  360 

Purus  in  occasus,  parvi  sed  gurgitis,  Aeas 

lonio  fluit  inde  mari,  nee  fortior  undis 

Labitur  avectae  pater  Isidis,  et  tuus,  Oeneu, 

Paene  gener  crassis  oblimat  Echinadas  undis, 

Et  Meleagream  maculatus  sanguine  Nessi  365 

Euhenos  Calydona  secat.     Ferit  amne  citato 

Maliacas  Spercheos  aquas,  et  flumine  puro 

Inrigat  Amphrysos  famulantis  pascua  Phoebi.  368 

Accipit  Asopos  cursus  Phoenixque  Melasque,  374 

Quique  nee  umentes  nebulas  nee  rore  madentem        369 

Aera  nee  tenues  ventos  suspirat  Anauros, 

Et  quisquis  pelago  per  se  non  cognitus  amnis 

Peneo  donavit  aquas  :  it  gurgite  rapto 

Apidanos  numquamque  celer,  nisi  mixtus,  Enipeus ;  373 

Solus,  in  alterius  nomen  cum  venerit  undae,  376 

Defendit  Titaresos  aquas  lapsusque  superne 

374  u-as  transposed  by  ffousman. 


*  The  birthplace  of  Thamyris  whom  the  Muses  blinded. 
'  Philoctetes,  a  native  of  Meliboea,  received   the  arrows  of 

Hercules  as  a  reward  for  kindling  the  hero's  funeral  pyre. 
3  Distinct  from  the  more  famous  Argos  in  Peloponnesus. 

*  The  Inachus  and  the  Achelous  are  the  two  rivers  thus 
described. 


BOOK    VI 

mained  drowned  for  ever !  And  other  cities  rose : 
Phylace,  whose  bark  was  first  to  land  on  the  shores 
of  Troy  ;  Pteleos,  and  Dorion  ^  that  laments  the  wrath 
of  the  Muses ;  Trachis,  and  Meliboea,  strong  with 
the  quiver  of  Hercules  that  paid  for  the  funeral 
torch ;  ^  Larisa,  powerful  in  ancient  times ;  and  the 
place  where  the  plough  now  passes  over  what  once 
was  famous  Argos,^  where  legend  points  out  the 
older  Thebes  of  Echion,  and  where  Agave,  then  an 
exile,  once  bore  the  head  and  neck  of  Pentheus  and 
gave  them  up  to  the  funeral  fire,  lamenting  that  she 
had  carried  off  no  more  from  her  son's  body.— In  this 
way  the  swamp  was  parted  and  broken  up  into 
many  rivers.  From  there  the  Aeas,  clear  but  of 
little  volume,  flows  westward  to  the  Ionian  sea ; 
with  no  stronger  stream  glides  the  father  of  ravished 
Isis ;  and  he  who  came  near  to  marrying  the  daughter 
of  Oeneus  and  silts  up  with  his  muddy  waves  tlie 
Echinad  islands ;  *  and  there  the  Euhenos,  stained 
with  the  blood  of  Nessus,  runs  through  Meleager's 
Calydon.  There  the  swift  stream  of  the  Spercheos 
strikes  the  waves  of  the  Maliac  gulf,  and  the  pure 
waters  of  the  Amphrysos  irrigate  the  pastures  where 
Apollo  herded  cattle.  Here  the  Asopos  starts  its 
course,  the  Phoenix,  and  the  Black  river ;  and  the 
Anauros,  which  breathes  out  neither  moist  vapours 
nor  dew-drenched  air  nor  light  breezes.  Then  there 
are  the  rivers  which  the  sea  knows  not  in  their  own 
shape,  and  which  give  their  waters  to  the  Peneus  : 
the  Apidanus,  robbed  of  its  stream ;  the  Enipeus, 
which  never  hastens  until  it  mingles  with  the 
Peneus  ;  and  the  Titaresos,  which  alone,  after  taking 
the  name  of  the  other  river,  guards  its  waters : 
gliding  on  the  surface,  it   treats  the   flood  of  the 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Gurgite  Penei  pro  siccis  utitiir  arvis. 

Hunc  fama  est  Stygiis  manare  paludibus  amnern 

Et  capitis  memorem  fluvii  contagia  vilis 

Nolle  pati  superumque  sibi  servare  timorem.  380 

Ut  primum  emissis  patuerunt  amnibus  arva, 
Pinguis  Bebrycio  discessit  vomere  sulcus ; 
Mox  Lelegum  dextra  pressum  descendit  aratnim ; 
Aeolidae  Dolopesque  solum  fregere  coloni 
Et  Magnates  eqiiis,  Minyae  gens  cognita  remis.  385 

Illic  semiferos  Ixionidas  Centauros 
Feta  Peletlironiis  nubes  effudit  in  antris : 
Aspera  te  Plioloes  frangentem,  Monyche,  saxa, 
Teque  sub  Oetaeo  torquentem  vertice  volsas, 
Rhoece  ferox,  quas  vix  Boreas  inverteret,  ornos,         390 
Hospes  et  Alcidae  magni  Phole,  teque,  per  amnem 
Inprobe  Lernaeas  vector  passure  sagittas, 
Teque,  senex  Chiron,  gelido  qui  sidere  fulgens 
Inpetis  Haemonio  maiorem  Scorpion  arcu. 

Hac  tellure  feri  micuerunt  semina  Martis.  395 

Primus  ab  aequorea  percussis  cuspide  saxis 
Thessalicus  sonipes,  bellis  feralibus  omen, 
Exiluit,  primus  chalybem  frenosque  momordit 
Spumavitque  novis  Lapithae  domitoris  habenis. 
Prima  fretum  scindens  Pagasaeo  litore  pinus  400 

Terrenum  ignotas  hominem  })roiecit  in  undas. 
Primus  Thessalicae  rector  telluris  lonos 
In  formara  calidae  percussit  pondera  massae, 
Fudit  et  argentum  flammis  aurumque  moneta 


^  The  gods  swore  by  the  water  of  the  Styx  and  considered 
the  Oath  as  binding :  cf.  I.  749. 

•  Sagittarius,  the  11th  sign  of  the  Zodiac,  is  represented  as 
a  Centaur  ;  Scorpio  is  the  10th  sign. 

3  The  Argo. 


BOOK    VI 

Pencils  as  if  it  were  dry  land.  For  legend  tells  that 
this  river  flows  from  the  Stygian  pool,  and,  mindful 
of  its  source,  spurns  admixture  with  a  common 
stream,  and  retains  the  awe  that  the  gods  feel 
for  it.i 

As  soon  as  the  rivers  flowed  off  and  the  land  was 
revealed,  the  fertile  furrows  were  cleft  by  the 
plough-shares  of  the  Bebryces ;  and  next  the  hands 
of  the  Leleges  drove  the  plough  deep.  The  soil 
was  broken  by  Aeolidae  and  Dolopians,  by  Magne- 
sians  famous  for  horses  and  Minyae  famous  for  ships. 
There  the  cloud,  pregnant  by  Ixion,  brought  forth 
in  the  caves  of  Pelethronium  the  Centaurs,  half  men 
and  half  beasts — Monychus  who  broke  with  his  hoofs 
the  hard  rocks  of  Pholoe ;  bold  Rhoecus  who  up- 
rooted ash-trees  for  missiles  beneath  Oeta's  crest, 
ash-trees  that  the  North  wind  could  hardly  overset ; 
Pholus,  who  entertained  great  Alcides ;  presump- 
tuous Nessus,who  ferried  passengers  across  the  river 
and  was  doomed  to  feel  the  arrows  of  Hercules  ;  and 
old  Chiron,  whose  star  shines  in  the  winter  sky  and 
aims  his  Thessalian  bow  at  the  Scorpion,^  larger  than 
himself. 

In  this  land  the  seeds  of  cruel  war  first  sprang  to 
Ufe.  From  her  rocks,  smitten  by  the  trident  of  the 
sea,  leaped  forth  first  the  Thessalian  charger,  to 
portend  dreadful  warfare  ;  here  he  first  champed  the 
steel  bit,  and  the  bridle  of  his  Lapith  tamer,  unfelt 
before,  brought  the  foam  to  his  mouth.  The  shore 
of  Pagasae  launched  the  ship  ^  that  first  cleft  the 
sea  and  flung  forth  man,  a  creature  of  the  land,  upon 
the  untried  waves.  lonos,  a  king  of  Thessaly,  was 
the  first  to  hammer  into  shape  ingots  of  molten 
metal;   he  melted  silver  in  the  fire,  and  broke  up 

333 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Fregit  et  inmensis  coxit  fornacibus  aera.  405 

Illic,  quod  populos  scelerata  inpegit  in  arma, 
Divitias  numerare  datum  est.     Hinc  maxima  serpens 
Descendit  Python  Cirrhaeaque  fluxit  in  arva, 
Unde  et  Thessalicae  veniunt  ad  Pythia  laurus. 
Inpius  hinc  prolem  superis  inmisit  Aloeus,  410 

Inseruit  celsis  prope  se  cum  Pelion  astris 
Sideribusque  vias  incurrens  abstulit  Ossa. 
Hac  ubi  damnata  fatis  tellure  locarunt 
Castra  duces,  cunctos  belli  praesaga  futuri 
Mens  agitat,  sumraique  gravem  discriminis  horam      415 
Adventare  palam  est,  propius  iam  fata  moveri. 
Degeneres  trepidant  animi  peioraque  versant ; 
Ad  dubios  pauci  praesumpto  robore  casus 
Spemque  metumque  ferunt.     Turbae  sed  mixtus  inerti 
Sextus  erat,  Magno  proles  indigna  parente,  420 

Cui  ^  mox  Scyllaeis  exul  grassatus  in  undis 
Polluit  aequoreos  Siculus  pirata  triumphos. 
Qui  stimulante  metu  fati  praenoscere  cursus, 
Inpatiensque  morae  venturisque  omnibus  aeger, 
Non  tripodas  Deli,  non  Pythia  consulit  antra,  425 

Nee  quaesisse  libet,  primis  quid  frugibus  altrix 
Aere  lovis  Dodona  sonet,  quis  noscere  fibra 
Fata  queat,  quis  prodat  aves,  quis  fulgura  caeli 
Servet  et  Assyria  scrutetur  sidera  cura, 
Aut  si  quid  tacitum  sed  fas  erat.     Ille  supernis  430 

*  Cui  Heinsius :  Qui  MS8. 


1  I.e.  Delphi. 

•.  The  Giants  piled  the  mountains  on  one  another  in  order  to 
^torm  the  heavens. 

'  By  suppressing  the  pirates. 

*  Dodona,  the  seat  of  an  oracle,  was  famous  for  its  oaks ;  and 
acorns  took  the  place  of  corn  in  primitive  times. 

334 


BOOK   VI 

gold  and  stamped  it,  and  smelted  copper  in  vast 
furnaces ;  there  it  became  possible  to  count  wealthy 
and  this  drove  mankind  into  the  wickedness  of  war. 
From  Thessaly  the  Python,  hugest  of  serpents,  came 
down  and  glided  on  to  the  land  of  Cirrha ;  ^  for 
which  reason  also  the  laurels  for  the  Pythian  games 
are  brought  from  Thessaly.  From  here  the  rebel 
Aloeus  launched  his  sons  against  Heaven,  when 
Pelion  raised  its  head  almost  to  the  height  of  the 
stars,  and  Ossa,  encroaching  upon  the  planets, 
stopped  their  courses.^ 

When  the  rivals  had  pitched  their  camps  in  this 
accursed  country,  every  heart  was  disturbed  by 
presentiments  of  war ;  it  was  plain  that  the  stern 
hour  of  final  decision  was  at  hand,  and  that  doom 
was  drawing  nearer  and  nearer.  Base  minds  quaked 
and  dwelt  upon  the  worst ;  a  few,  fortifying  them- 
selves beforehand  for  the  uncertain  issue,  felt  hope 
as  well  as  fear.  Among  the  helpless  throng  was 
Sextus,  the  unworthy  son  of  Magnus,  he  who  later 
as  an  exile  infested  the  waters  of  Scylla,  and  stained 
by  piracy  in  Sicily  the  glory  his  father  had  gained 
from  the  sea.^  Fear  urged  him  on  to  learn  before- 
hand the  course  of  destiny ;  he  was  impatient  of 
delay  and  distracted  by  all  that  was  to  come.  But 
he  sought  not  the  tripods  of  Delos  nor  the  caverns 
of  Delphi:  he  cared  not  to  inquire  what  sound 
Dodona  makes  with  the  cauldron  of  Jupiter — Dodona 
that  grew  the  food  of  primitive  man ;  *  he  asked  not 
who  could  read  the  future  by  means  of  entrails,  or 
interpret  birds,  or  watch  the  lightnings  of  heaven 
and  investigate  the  stars  with  Assyrian  lore — he 
sought  no  knowledge  which,  though  secret,  is  per- 
missible.    To   him   were  known   the   mysteries   of 

335 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Detestanda  deis  saevorum  arcana  magorum 

Noverat  et  tristes  sacris  feralibus  aras, 

Umbrarum  Ditisque  fidem,  miseroque  liquebat 

Scire  parum  superos.     Vanum  saevumque  furorem 

Adiuvat  ipse  locus  vicinaque  nioenia  castris  435 

Haemonidum,  ficti  quas  nulla  licentia  monstri 

Transierit,  quarum,  quidquid  non  creditur,  ars  est. 

Thessala  quin  etiam  tell  us  herbasque  nocentes 

Rupibus  ingenuit  sensiiraque  saxa  canentes 

Arcanum  ferale  magos.     Ibi  plurima  surgunt  440 

Vim  factura  deis,  et  terris  hospita  Colchis 

Legit  in  Haemoniis  quas  non  advexerat  herbas. 

Inpia  tot  populis,  tot  surdas  gentibus  aures 

Caelicolum  dirae  convertunt  carmina  gentis. 

Una  per  aetherios  exit  vox  ilia  recessus  445 

Verbaque  ad  invitum  perfert  cogentia  numen, 

Quod  non  cura  poli  caelique  volubilis  umquam 

Avocat.      Infandum  tetigit  cum  sidera  murmur, 

Turn,  Babylon  Persea  licet  secretaque  Memphis 

Omne  vetustorum  solvat  penetrale  magorum,  450 

Abducet  superos  alienis  Thessalis  aris. 

Carmine  Thessalidum  dura  in  praecordia  fliixit 

Non  fatis  adductus  amor,  flammisque  severi 

Inlicitis  arsere  senes.     Nee  noxia  tantum 

Pocula  proficiunt  aut  cum  turgentia  suco  465 

Frontis  amaturae  subducunt  pignora  fetae : 

Mens  hausti  nulla  sanie  polluta  veneni, 

Excantata  perit.     Quos  non  concordia  mixti 


1  Medea. 

2  An  excrescence  upon  the  forehead  of  a  new-born  foal,  which 
the  mare  ate  and  which  made  her  love  the  foal ;  it  was  stolen 
to  be  used  for  love-philtres. 


BOOK   VI 

cruel  witchcraft  which  the  gods  above  abominate,  and 
grim  altars  with  funeral  rites ;  he  knew  the  veracity 
of  Pluto  and  the  shades  below ;  and  the  wretch  was 
convinced  that  the  gods  of  heaven  are  ignorant. 
The  place  itself  fed  his  false  and  cruel  delusion  :  the 
camp  was  near  the  habitation  of  those  Thessalian  i^ 
witches,  whom  no  boldness  of  imaginary  horror  can 
outdo,  and  who  practise  all  that  is  deemed  im- 
possible. Moreover,  the  land  produces  baneful  herbs 
on  her  heights,  and  her  rocks  yield  to  the  deadly 
spell  chanted  by  her  wizards.  Full  many  a  plant 
grows  there  that  can  put  constraint  upon  the  gods ; 
and  the  Colchian  stranger^  gathered  on  Thessalian 
soil  herbs  she  had  not  brought  with  her  across  the 
sea.  The  profane  spells  of  that  ill-omened  race 
compel  the  attention  of  the  gods,  who  turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  so  many  peoples  and  nations.  Their  voice 
alone  speeds  through  the  remote  parts  of  heaven, 
and  conveys  the  words  that  bind  the  reluctant  deity, 
whom  no  care  for  the  sky  and  revolving  firmament 
ever  distracts  from  listening.  When  her  hideous  v 
hum  has  reached  the  stars,  then,  even  though  Persian 
Babylon  and  weird  Memphis  unlock  every  shrine  of 
their  ancient  magicians,  the  Thessalian  witch  will 
call  the  gods  away  from  all  altars  but  her  own.  By 
their  spells  love  steals  into  insensible  hearts  against 
the  decree  of  destiny,  and  austere  old  age  burns  with 
forbidden  passion.  And  not  only  their  baleful 
f)h litres  have  power,  or  their  act  when  they  steal 
from  the  mare  the  sign  ^  that  she  will  love  her  foal 
— the  sign  that  grows,  swollen  with  juice,  upon  its 
forehead ;  but  even  when  defiled  by  no  horrid 
draught  of  poison,  men's  minds  are  destroyed  by 
incantations.     Those  whom  no  bond  of  wedlock  and 

337 

VOL.  I.  M 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

AUigat  ulla  tori  blandaeque  potentia  formae, 

Traxerunt  torti  magica  vertigine  fili.  460 

Cessavere  vices  rerum,  dilataque  longa 

Haesit  nocte  dies  ;  legi  non  paruit  aether, 

Torpuit  et  praeceps  audito  carmine  mundus, 

Axibus  et  rapidis  inpulsos  luppiter  urguens 

Miratur  non  ire  polos.     Nunc  omnia  conplent  465 

Imbribus  et  calido  praeducunt  nubila  Phoebo, 

Et  tonat  ignaro  caelum  love  ;  vocibus  isdem 

Umentes  late  nebulas  nimbosque  solutis 

Excussere  comis.     Ventis  cessantibus  aequor 

Intumuit ;  rursus  vetitum  sentire  procellas  470 

Conticuit  turbante  Noto,  puppemque  ferentes 

In  ventum  tumuere  sinus.     De  rupe  pependit 

Abscisa  fixus  torrens,  amnisque  cucurrit, 

Non  qua  pronus  erat.     Nilum  non  extulit  aestas, 

Maeander  derexit  aquas,  Rhodanumque  morantem     476 

Praecipitavit  Arar.     Summisso  vertice  montes 

Explicuere  iugum  ;  nubes  suspexit  Olympus, 

Solibus  et  nullis  Scythicae,  cum  bruma  rigeret, 

Dimaduere  nives.     Inpulsam  sidere  Tethyn 

Reppulit  Haemonium  defenso  litore  carmen.  480 

Terra  quoque  inmoti  concussit  ponderis  axes, 

Et  medium  vergens  titubavit  nisus  in  orbem. 

Tantae  molis  onus  percussum  voce  recessit 

Perspectumque  dedit  circumlabentis  Olympi. 

Omne  potens  animal  leti  genitumque  nocere  485 

Et  pavet  Haemonias  et  mortibus  instruit  artes. 

^  A  tunnel  is  driven  through  the  earth  by  witchcraft,  and 
shows  the  stars  revolving  beneath  it. 


BOOK   VI 

no  attraction  of  alluring  beauty  can  bind  together 
are  compelled  by  the  mystic  twirling  of  the  twisted 
thread.  The  natural  changes  cease  to  operate : 
daylight  lingers  and  is  delayed  by  the  length  of 
night ;  the  ether  is  disobedient  to  its  law  ;  listening 
to  their  spells,  the  swift  firmament  is  arrested,  and 
Jupiter,  while  driving  on  the  heavens  that  speed  on 
their  swift  axles,  marvels  that  they  stand  still.  At 
one  time  they  drench  the  world  with  rain  and  veil 
the  hot  sun  with  clouds,  and  the  heavens  thunder 
while  Jupiter  knows  nothing  of  it ;  and  also  by  spells 
they  disperse  the  canopy  of  watery  vapour  and  the 
dishevelled  tresses  of  the  storm-clouds.  Though  the 
winds  are  still,  the  sea  rises  high  ;  or  again  it  is  for- 
bidden to  be  affected  by  storms,  and  is  silent  while 
the  South  wind  blusters,  and  the  sails  that  speed 
a  vessel  belly  out  against  the  breeze.  The  water- 
fall is  arrested  on  the  steep  face  of  the  cliff;  and  the 
running  river  forsakes  its  downward  channel.  The 
Nile  fails  to  rise  in  summer ;  the  Maeander  straightens 
its  course ;  the  Arar  hurries  on  the  sluggish  Rhone ; 
the  mountains  lower  their  tops  and  level  their 
ridges ;  Mount  Olympus  sees  the  clouds  above  it ; 
and  the  Scythian  snows  thaw  without  any  sun  in 
winter's  cold.  When  the  tide  is  driven  on  by  the 
moon,  the  spells  of  Thessalian  witches  drive  it  back 
and  defend  the  shore.  The  earth  too  throws  the 
poles  of  her  stable  mass  out  of  gear,  and  the  pressure 
that  tends  to  the  centre  of  the  sphere  becomes 
unsteady.  Smitten  by  a  spell,  that  mighty  weight 
parts  asunder  and  reveals  to  sight  the  stars  revolving 
around  it.^  Every  creature  that  has  power  to  kill 
and  was  born  to  do  mischief  dreads  the  Thessalian 
witches  and  provides  their  skill  with  the  means  of 

339 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Has  avidae  tigres  et  nobilis  ira  leonum 

Ore  fovent  blaiido  ;  gelidos  his  explicat  orbes 

Inque  pruinoso  coluber  distenditur  arvo  ; 

Viperei  coeunt  abrupto  corpore  nodi,  490 

Humanoque  cadit  serpens  adflata  veneno. 

Quis  labor  hie  superis  cantus  herbasque  sequendi 

Spernendique  timor  ?  cuius  commercia  pacti 

Obstrictos  habuere  deos  ?  parere  necesse  est 

An  iuvat  ?  ignota  tantum  pietate  merentur,  495 

An  tacitis  valuere  minis  ?  hoc  iuris  in  omnes 

Est  illis  superos,  an  habent  haec  carmina  certum 

Imperiosa  deum,  qui  mundum  cogere,  quidquid 

Cogitur  ipse,  potest  ?     Illis  et  sidera  primum 

Praecipiti  deducta  polo,  Phoebeque  serena  600 

Non  aliter  diris  verborum  obsessa  venenis 

Palluit  et  nigris  terrenisque  ignibus  arsit, 

Quam  si  fraterna  prohiberet  imagine  tell  us 

Insereretque  suas  flammis  caelestibus  umbras, 

Et  patitur  tantos  cantu  depressa  labores  606 

Donee  suppositas  propior  despumet  in  herbas. 

Hos  scelerum  ritus,  haec  dirae  crimina  gentis 
Effera  damnarat  nimiae  pietatis  Erictho 
Inque  novos  ritus  pollutam  duxerat  artem. 
lUi  namque  nefas  urbis  summittere  tecto  510 

Aut  laribus  ferale  caput,  desertaque  busta 
Iricolit  et  tumulos  expulsis  obtinet  umbris 
Grata  deis  Erebi.     Coetus  audire  silentum, 
Nosse  domos  Stygias  arcanaque  Ditis  operti 

340 


BOOK   VI 

death.  The  fierce  tiger  and  the  angry  lion,  king 
of  beasts,  lick  their  hands  and  fawn  upon  them ;  for 
them  the  snake  unfolds  his  chilly  coils  and  stretches 
at  full  length  on  the  frosty  ground ;  knotted  vipers 
split  apart  and  unite  again ;  and  the  serpent  dies, 
blasted  by  human  poison. — Why  do  the  gods  trouble 
to  heed  these  spells  and  herbs,  and  fear  to  despise 
them?  What  mutual  bond  puts  constraint  upon 
them  ?  Must  they  obey,  or  do  they  take  pleasure  in 
obedience  ?  Is  this  subservience  the  reward  of  some 
piety  unknown  to  us,  or  is  it  extorted  by  unuttered 
threats  ?  Has  witchcraft  power  over  all  the  gods, 
or  are  these  tyrannical  spells  addressed  to  one  special 
deity  who  can  inflict  upon  the  world  all  the  com- 
pulsion that  he  suffers  himself? — By  these  witches 
the  stars  were  first  brought  down  from  the  swiftly- 
moving  sky ;  and  the  clear  moon,  beset  by  dread 
incantations,  grew  dim  and  burned  with  a  dark  and 
earthy  light,  just  as  if  the  earth  cut  her  off  from  her 
brother's  reflection  and  thrust  its  shadow  athwart  the 
fires  of  heaven.  Lowered  by  magic,  she  suffers  all 
that  pain,  until  from  close  quarters  she  drops  foam 
upon  the  plants  below. 

These  criminal  rites  and  malpractices  of  an  accursed 
race  fierce  Erictho  had  scouted  as  not  wicked 
enough,  and  had  turned  her  loathsome  skill  to  rites 
before  unknown.  To  her  it  was  a  crime  to  shelter 
her  ill-omened  head  in  a  city  or  under  a  roof:  dear 
to  the  deities  of  Erebus,  she  inhabited  deserted 
tombs,  and  haunted  graves  from  which  the  ghosts 
had  been  driven.  Neither  the  gods  of  Heaven,  nor 
the  fact  that  she  was  still  living,  prevented  her  from 
hearing  the  speechless  converse  of  the  dead,  or  from 
knowing  the  abodes  of  Hell  and  the  mysteries  of 

341 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  superi,  non  vita  vetat.     Tenet  ora  profanae         615 

Foeda  situ  macies,  caeloque  ignota  sereno 

Terribilis  Stygio  facies  pallore  gravatur 

Inpexis  onerata  comis  :  si  nimbus  et  atrae 

Sidera  subducunt  nubes,  tunc  Thessala  nudis 

Egreditur  bustis  nocturnaque  fulmina  captat.  620 

Semina  fecundae  segetis  calcata  perussit 

Et  non  letiferas  spirando  perdidit  auras. 

Nee  superos  orat  nee  cantu  supplice  numeii 

Auxiliare  vocat  nee  fibras  ilia  litantes 

Novit :  funereas  aris  inponere  flammas  625 

Gaudet  et  accenso  rapuit  quae  tura  sepulchro. 

Omne  nefas  superi  prima  iam  voce  precantis 

Concedunt  carmenque  timent  audire  secundum. 

Viventes  animas  et  adhuc  sua  membra  regentes 

Infodit  busto,  fatis  debentibus  annos  630 

Mors  invita  subit;  perversa  funera  pompa 

Rettulit  a  tumulis,  fugere  cadavera  letum. 

Fumantes  iuvenum  cineres  ardentiaque  ossa 

E  mediis  rapit  ilia  rogis  ipsamque,  parentes 

Quam  tenuere,  facem  nigroque  volantia  fumo  635 

Feralis  fragmenta  tori  vestesque  fluentes 

Colligit  in  cineres  et  olentes  membra  favillas. 

Ast,  ubi  servantur  saxis,  quibus  intimus  umor 

Ducitur,  et  tracta  durescunt  tabe  medullae 

Corpora,  tunc  omnes  avide  desaevit  in  artus  540 

Inmergitque  manus  oculis  gaudetque  gelatos 

EfFodisse  orbes  et  siccae  pallida  rodit 

Excrementa  manus.     Laqueum  nodosque  nocentes 


*  He   refers   to  a   sarcophagus,   which,  as    the  name   shews, 
was  supposed  to  dry  up  the  corpse  and  consume  it. 

342 


BOOK   VI 

subterranean  Pluto.  Haggard  and  loathly  with  age 
is  the  face  of  the  witch  ;  her  awful  countenance, 
overcast  with  a  hellish  pallor  and  weighed  down  by 
uncombed  locks,  is  never  seen  by  the  clear  sky ;  but 
if  storm  and  black  clouds  take  away  the  stars,  then 
she  issues  forth  from  rifled  tombs  and  tries  to  catch 
the  nocturnal  lightnings.  Her  tread  blights  the 
seeds  of  the  fertile  cornfield,  and  her  breath  poisons 
air  that  before  was  harmless.  She  addresses  no 
prayer  to  Heaven,  invokes  no  divine  aid  with  sup- 
pliant hymn,  and  knows  nothing  of  the  organs  of 
victims  offered  in  sacrifice  ;  she  rejoices  to  lay  on  the 
altar  funeral  fires  and  incense  snatched  from  the 
kindled  pyre.  At  the  first  sound  of  her  petition 
the  gods  grant  every  honor,  dreading  to  hear  a 
second  spell.  She  buries  in  the  grave  the  living 
whose  souls  still  direct  their  bodies  :  while  years  are 
still  due  to  them  from  destiny,  death  comes  upon 
them  unwillingly;  or  she  brings  back  the  funeral 
from  the  tomb  with  procession  reversed,  and  the 
dead  escape  from  death.  The  smoking  ashes  and 
burning  bones  of  the  young  she  snatches  from  the 
centre  of  the  pyre,  and  the  very  torch  from  the 
hands  of  the  parents ;  she  gathers  up  the  pieces  of 
the  bier,  fluttering  in  the  black  smoke,  and  the 
grave-clothes  as  they  crumble  into  ashes,  and  the 
cinders  that  reek  of  the  corpse.  But,  when  the  dead 
are  coffined  in  stone,^  which  drains  off  the  internal 
moisture,  absorbs  the  corruption  of  the  marrow,  and 
makes  the  corpse  rigid,  then  the  witch  eagerly  vents 
her  rage  on  all  the  limbs,  thrusting  her  fingers  into 
the  eyes,  scooping  out  gleefully  the  stiffened  eyeballs, 
and  gnawing  the  yellow  nails  on  the  withered  hand. 
She   breaks   with   her   teeth   the   fatal  noose,  and 

343 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ore  suo  ruinpit,  pendentia  corpora  carpsit 

Abrasitque  cruces  percussaque  viscera  nimbis  546 

Volsit  et  incoctas  admisso  sole  medullas. 

Insertum  manibus  chalybem  nigramque  per  artus 

Stillantis  tabi  saniem  virusque  coactura 

Sustulit,  et  nervo  morsus  retinente  pependit. 

Et,  quodcumque  iacet  nuda  tellure  cadaver,  660 

Ante  feras  volucresque  sedet ;  nee  carpere  membra 

Volt  ferro  manibusque  suis,  morsusque  luporum 

Expectat  siccis  raptura  e  faucibus  artus. 

Nee  cessant  a  caede  manus,  si  sanguine  vivo 

Est  opus,  erumpat  iugulo  qui  primus  aperto,  656 

Extaque  funereae  poscunt  trepidantia  mensae. 

Volnere  sic  ventris,  non  qua  natura  vocabat, 

Extrahitur  partus  calidis  ponendus  in  aris  ; 

Et  quotiens  saevis  opus  est  ac  fortibus  umbris. 

Ipsa  facit  manes.     Hominum  morsomnis  in  usu  est.  660 

Ilia  genae  florem  primaevo  corpore  volsit. 

Ilia  comam  laeva  morienti  abscidit  ephebo. 

Saepe  etiam  caris  cognato  in  funere  dira 

Thessalis  incubuit  membris  atque  oscula  figens 

Truncavitque  caput  conpressaque  dentibus  ora  665 

Laxavit  siccoque  haerentem  gutture  linguam 

Praemordens  gelidis  infudit  murmura  labris 

Arcanumque  nefas  Stjgias  mandavit  ad  umbras. 

Hanc  ut  faraa  loci  Pompeio  prodidit,  alta 
Nocte  poli.  Titan  medium  quo  tempore  ducit  670 


344 


BOOK   VI 

mangles  the  carcass  that  dangles  on  the  gallows,  and 
scrapes  the  cross  of  the  criminal ;  she  tears  away  the 
rain-be.iten  flesh  and  the  bones  calcined  by  exposure 
to  the  sun.  She  purloins  the  nails  that  pierced  the 
hands,  the  clotted  filth,  and  the  black  humour  of 
corruption  that  oozes  over  all  the  limbs;  and  when 
a  muscle  resists  her  teeth,  she  hangs  her  weight 
upon  it.  Whenever  any  corpse  lies  exposed  on  the 
ground,  she  sits  by  it  before  beast  or  bird  can  come ; 
but  she  will  not  mangle  the  limbs  with  the  knife  or 
her  bare  hands ;  she  waits  for  the  wolves  to  tear  it, 
and  means  to  snatch  the  prey  from  their  unvvetted 
throats.  Nor  is  she  slow  to  take  life,  if  such  warm 
blood  is  needed  as  gushes  forth  at  once  when  the 
throat  is  slit,  and  if  her  ghoulish  feast  demands  still 
palpitating  flesh.  In  the  same  way  she  pierces  the 
pregnant  womb  and  delivers  the  child  by  an  unnatural 
birth,  in  order  to  place  it  on  the  fiery  altar;  and 
whenever  she  requires  the  service  of  a  bold,  bad 
spirit,  she  takes  life  with  her  own  hand.  Every 
death  of  man  serves  her  turn.  She  tears  oft'  the 
bloom  of  the  face  on  the  young  man's  body,  and  her 
lett  hand  severs  the  lock  of  hair  on  the  head  of  the 
dying  lad.  Otten  too,  when  a  kinsman  is  buried, 
the  dreadful  witch  hangs  over  the  loved  body  : 
while  kissing  it,  she  mutilates  the  head  and  opens 
the  closed  mouth  with  her  teeth  ;  then,  biting  the 
tip  of  the  tongue  that  lies  motionless  in  the  dry 
throat,  she  pours  inarticulate  sound  into  the  cold 
li})s,  and  sends  a  message  of  mysterious  horror  down 
to  the  shades  of  Hell. 

The  rumour  of  the  country  told  Pompeius  of 
Erictho,  and  he  took  his  way  through  deserted  fields 
when  night  was  high  in  heaven — at  the  hour  when 

345 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Sub  nostra  tellure  diem,  deserta  per  arva 

Carpit  iter.      Fidi  scelerum  suetique  ministri 

EfFraetos  circum  tumulos  ac  busta  vagati 

Conspexere  procul  praerupta  in  caute  sedentem. 

Qua  iuga  devexus  Pharsalica  porrigit  Haemus.  575 

Ilia  magis  magicisque  deis  incognita  verba 

Temptabat  carmenque  novos  fingebat  in  usus. 

Namque  timens,  ne  Mars  alium  vagus  iret  in  orbem 

Emathis  et  tellus  tarn  multa  caede  careret. 

Pollutes  cantu  dirisque  venefica  sucis  680 

Conspersos  vetuit  transmittere  bella  Philippos, 

Tot  mortes  habitura  suas  usuraque  mundi 

Sanguine  ;  caesorum  truncare  cadavera  regum 

Sperat  et  Hesperiae  cineres  avertere  gentis 

Ossaque  nobilium  tantosque  adquirere  manes.  686 

Hie  ardor  sol  usque  labor,  quid  corpore  Magni 

Proiecto  rapiat,  quos  Caesaris  involet  artus. 

Quam  prior  adfatur  Pompei  ignava  propago  : 
"  O  decus  Haemonidum,  populis  quae  pandere  fata 
Quaeque  suo  ventura  potes  devertere  cursu,  590 

Te  precor,  ut  certum  liceat  mihi  noscere  finem 
Quem  belli  fortuna  paret.     Non  ultima  turbae 
Pars  ego  Romanae,  Magni  clarissima  proles, 
Vel  dominus  rerum  vel  tanti  funeris  heres. 
Mens  dubiis  pereulsa  pavet  rursusque  parata  est         696 
Certos  ferre  metus  :  hoc  casibus  eripe  iuris, 


^  I.e.  Pharsalia. 
346 


BOOK  VI 

the  sun  ushers  in  the  noonday  beneath  our  earth. 
Men  who  were  wont  to  act  as  the  trusted  instruments 
of  her  wickedness  went  to  and  fro  about  the  rifled 
graves  and  the  tombs,  till  they  sighted  her  far  away 
sitting  on  a  steep  rock,  where  the  Balkan  slopes 
down  and  extends  its  range  to  Pharsalia.  She  was 
framing  a  spell  unknown  to  wizards  and  the  gods  of 
wizardry,  and  inventing  an  incantation  for  a  special 
purpose.  She  feared  that  the  war  might  stray  away 
to  some  other  region,  and  that  the  land  of  Thessaly 
might  miss  so  great  a  carnage ;  and  therefore  the 
witch  forbade  Philippi,^  defiled  by  her  spells  and 
sprinkled  with  her  noxious  drugs,  to  allow  the  warfare 
to  change  its  place.  Then  all  those  dead  would  be 
hers,  and  the  blood  of  the  whole  world  would  be  at 
her  disposal.  She  hopes  to  mutilate  the  corpses  of 
slaughtered  kings,  to  plunder  the  ashes  of  the  Roman 
nation  and  the  bones  of  nobles,  and  to  master  the 
ghosts  of  the  mighty.  One  passion  only  and  one 
anxiety  she  feels — what  part  may  she  snatch  from 
the  exposed  body  of  Magnus,  and  on  what  limbs  of 
Caesar  may  she  pounce  ? 

The  unworthy  son  of  Pompey  spoke  first  and 
addressed  her.  "Famous  among  Thessalian  women, 
you  who  have  power  to  reveal  the  future  to  mankind 
and  to  turn  aside  the  course  of  events,  I  pray  you 
that  I  may  be  allowed  certain  knowledge  of  the 
issue  which  the  hazard  of  war  is  preparing.  Not 
the  meanest  among  Romans  am  I,  but  the  renowned 
offspring  of  Magnus,  and  I  shall  be  either  lord  of  the 
world  or  inheritor  of  an  awful  doom.  My  heart  quakes 
and  is  overcome  by  uncertainty,  but  is  ready  on  the 
other  hand  to  endure  definite  dangers.  Take  away 
from  calamity  the  power  of  swooping  down  suddenly 

347 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ne  subiti  caecique  ruant.     Vel  numina  torque 
Vel  tu  parce  deis  et  manibus  exprime  verura. 
Elysias  resera  sedes  ipsamque  vocatam,  600 

Quos  petat  e  nobis,  Mortem  mihi  coge  fateri. 
Non  humilis  labor  est :  dignum,  quod  quaerere  cures 
Vel  tibi^  quo  tanti  praeponderet  alea  fati." 
Inpia  laetatur  vulgato  nomine  famae 
Thessalis,  et  contra  :  "  Si  fata  minora  moveres,  605 

Pronum  erat,  o  iuvenis,  quos  velles  **  inquit  "  in  actus. 
Invites  praebere  deos.     Conceditur  arti, 
Unam  cum  radiis  presserunt  sidera  mortem, 
Inseruisse  moras  ;  et,  quamvis  fecerit  omnis 
Stella  senem,  medios  herbis  abrumpimus  annos.         610 
At,  simul  a  prima  descendit  origine  mundi 
Causarum  series,  atque  omnia  fata  laborant 
Si  quicquam  mutare  velis,  unoque  sub  ictu 
Stat  genus  humanum,  tum — Thessala  turba  fatemur — 
Plus  Fortuna  potest.     Sed  si  praenoscere  casus  616 

Contentus,  facilesque  aditus  multique  patebunt 
Ad  verum  :  tellus  nobis  aetherque  chaosque 
Aequoraque  et  campi  Rhodopaeaque  saxa  loquentur. 
Sed  pronum,  cum  tanta  novae  sit  copia  mortis, 
Emathiis  unum  campis  attollere  corpus,  620 

Ut  modo  defuncti  tepidique  cadaveris  ora 
Plena  voce  sonent  nee  membris  sole  perustis 
Auribus  incertum  feralis  strideat  umbra." 
Dixerat,  et  noctis  geminatis  arte  tenebris 

1  Lucan   seems   to  have  forgotten  that  there   had   been  no 
fighting  as  yet  in  Thessaly. 

348 


BOOK   VI 

and  unforeseen.  Either  put  the  gods  to  the  question, 
or  leave  them  alone  and  extort  the  truth  from  the 
dead.  Unbar  the  gates  of  Elysium,  summon  Death 
himself,  and  force  him  to  reveal  to  me  which  among 
us  must  be  his  prey.  It  is  no  mean  service  that  I 
ask  of  you ;  even  in  your  own  interest,  it  is  worth 
your  pains  to  enquire,  which  way  the  hazard  of  so 
great  an  issue  inclines."  Proud  of  her  wide-spread 
fame,  the  wicked  witch  thus  replied  :  "  If  you  sought 
to  alter  a  lesser  decree  of  fate,  it  would  have  been 
easy,  young  man,  to  force  the  gods  to  any  course  of 
action  at  your  desire.  When  the  planets  by  their 
shining  bear  down  a  single  soul  to  death,  witchcraft 
has  power  to  interpose  a  respite ;  and,  though  all  the 
stars  promise  a  man  old  age,  we  cut  short  his  life 
half-way  by  our  magic  herbs.  But  in  some  cases 
the  chain  of  causes  comes  down  from  the  creation  of 
the  world,  and  all  destinies  suffer  if  it  is  sought  to 
make  a  single  change,  and  the  same  blow  affects  the 
whole  of  mankind ;  and  there  Fortune  has  more 
power  than  all  the  witches  of  Thessaly,  and  we  admit 
it.  If,  however,  it  is  enough  for  you  to  learn 
calamity  before  it  comes,  the  ways  of  approaching 
the  truth  are  many  and  will  prove  easy  of  access : 
earth  and  sky  and  the  abyss,  the  seas  and  the  plains 
and  the  cliff's  of  Rhodope,  will  find  a  tongue  for  us. 
But,  since  there  is  such  abundance  of  recent 
slaughter,^  the  simplest  plan  is  to  lift  one  dead  man 
from  the  Thessalian  fields ;  then  the  mouth  of  a 
corpse  still  warm  and  freshly  slain  will  speak  with 
substantial  utterance,  and  no  dismal  ghost,  whose 
limbs  are  dried  up  by  the  sun,  will  gibber  sounds 
unintelligible  to  our  ears." 

Thus  she  spoke  and  made  dark  night  twice  as 

349 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Maestum  tecta  caput  squalenti  nube  pererrat  625 

Corpora  caesorum  tumulis  proiecta  negatis. 

Continuo  fugere  lupi,  fugere  revolsis 

Unguibus  inpastae  volucres,  dum  Thessala  vatem 

Eligit  et  gelidas  leto  scrutata  medullas 

Pulmonis  rigidi  stantes  sine  volnere  fibras  630 

Invenit  et  vocem  defuncto  in  corpore  quaerit. 

Fata  peremptorum  pendent  lam  multa  virorum, 

Quern  superis  revocasse  velit.     Si  toll  ere  tolas 

Temptasset  campis  acies  et  reddere  bello, 

Cessissent  leges  Erebi,  monstroque  potenti  635 

Extractus  Stygio  populus  pugnasset  Averno. 

Electum  tandem  traiecto  gutture  corpus 

Ducit,  et  inserto  laqueis  feralibus  unco 

Per  scopulos  miserum  trahitur,  per  saxa,  cadaver 

Victurum,  montisque  cavi,  quern  tristis  Erictho  640 

Damnarat  sacris,  alta  sub  rupe  locatur. 

Haud  procul  a  Ditis  caecis  depressa  cavernis 
In  praeceps  subsedit  humus,  quam  pallida  pronis 
Urguet  silva  comis  et  nullo  vertice  caelum 
Suspiciens  Phoebo  non  pervia  taxus  opacat.  645 

Marcentes  intus  tenebrae  pallensque  sub  antris 
Longa  nocte  situs  numquam  nisi  carmine  factum 
Lumen  habet.     Non  Taenariis  sic  faucibus  aer 
Sedit  iners,  maestum  mundi  confine  latentis 

350 


BOOK   VI 

dark  by  her  magic.  Then,  with  her  gruesome  head 
veiled  in  a  hideous  mist,  she  moved  here  and  there 
among  the  bodies  of  the  slain  that  were  thrown  out 
and  denied  burial.  At  once  the  wolves  took  flight, 
the  vultures  sheathed  their  talons  and  flew  away 
ungorged  ;  meanwhile  the  witch  picks  out  her 
prophet,  prying  into  the  inmost  parts  cold  in  death, 
till  she  finds  the  substance  of  the  stiffened  lungs 
unwounded  and  still  firm,  and  seeking  the  power  of 
utterance  in  a  corpse.  The  destiny  of  many  victims 
of  battle  is  hanging  now  in  the  balance — which  of 
them  will  she  decide  to  restore  to  the  upper  world  ? 
Had  she  tried  to  raise  up  the  whole  army  on  the 
plain  and  make  them  fight  again,  the  laws  of  Erebus 
would  have  yielded  to  her,  and  a  multitude,  brought 
up  from  Stygian  Avernus  by  the  power  of  the  fiend, 
would  have  taken  the  field.  At  last  she  chose  a 
corpse  and  drew  it  along  with  the  neck  noosed, 
and  in  the  dead  man's  noose  she  inserted  a  hook. 
The  hapless  body  was  dragged  over  rocks  and 
stones,  to  live  a  second  time,  and  was  laid  beneath 
a  high  rock  of  the  hollow  mountain  which  cruel 
Erictho  had  condemned  to  witness  her  rites. 

There  the  ground  fell  in  a  sheer  descent,  sinking 
almost  to  the  depth  of  the  invisible  caverns  of 
Pluto.  A  dim  wood  with  forward-bending  trees 
borders  it,  and  yew-trees  shade  it — yew-trees  that 
the  sun  cannot  penetrate,  and  that  turn  no  tops 
towards  the  sky.  In  the  caves  within  dank  darkness 
reigns,  and  the  colourless  mould  caused  by  un- 
broken night ;  the  only  light  there  is  due  to  magic. 
Even  in  the  gorge  of  Taenarus  the  air  is  less  dead 
and  stagnant ;  it  is  the  gloomy  boundary  between 
the   unseen   world   and   ours ;    and   the    Rulers   of 

3S^ 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ac  nostri,  quo  non  metuant  admittere  manes  650 

Tartarei  reges.     Nam,  quamvis  Thessala  vates 

Vim  facial  fatis,  dubium  est,  quod  traxerit  illuc 

Aspiciat  Stygias  an  quod  descenderit  umbras. 

Discolor  et  vario  furialis  cultus  amictu 

Induitur,  voltusque  aperitur  crine  remoto,  666 

Et  coma  vipereis  substringitur  horrida  sertis. 

Ut  pavidos  iuvenis  comites  ipsumque  trementem 

Conspicit  exanimi  defixum  lumina  voltu, 

"  Ponite"  ait  "trepida  conceptos  mente  timores  : 

lam  nova,  lam  vera  reddetur  vita  figura,  66U 

Ut  quamvis  pavidi  possint  audire  loquentem. 

Si  vero  Stygiosque  lacus  ripamque  sonantem 

Ignibus  ostendam,  si  me  praebente  ^  videri 

Eumenides  possint  villosaque  colla  colubris 

Cerberus  excutiens  et  vincti  terga  gigantes,  665 

Quis  timor,  ignavi,  metuentes  cernere  manes?  " 

Pectora  tunc  primum  ferventi  sanguine  supplet 
Volneribus  laxata  novis  taboque  medullas 
Abluit  et  virus  large  lunare  ministrat. 
Hue  quidquid  fetu  genuit  natura  sinistro  670 

Miscetur.      Non  spuma  canum  quibus  unda  timori  est, 
Viscera  non  lyncis,  non  dirae  nodus  hyaenae 
Defuit  et  cervi  pastae  serpente  medullae, 
Non  puppim  retinens  Euro  tendente  rudentes 
In  mediis  echenais  aquis  oculique  draconum  676 

Quaeque  sonant  feta  tepefacta  sub  alite  saxa ; 

*  praebente  Madvig  :  praesente  MS8. 


^  The  ex^vfi'is,  'ship-stopper'  (Latin  r^mora)  was  a  fabulous 
marine  animal ;  the  stones  in  an  eagle's  nest  are  equally 
fabulous. 

352 


BOOK   VI 

Tartarus  would  not  fear  to  let  the  dead  travel  thus 
far.  For,  though  the  Thessalian  witch  tyrannises 
over  destiny,  it  is  doubtful  whether  she  sees  the 
lost  souls  because  she  has  haled  them  to  her  cave, 
or  because  she  has  gone  down  to  Hell  herself.  She 
put  on  motley  raiment,  whose  parti-coloured  woof 
was  fit  for  a  fiend  to  wear ;  she  threw  back  her  hair 
and  revealed  her  face ;  and  she  looped  up  her 
bristling  locks  with  festoons  of  vipers.  When  she 
saw  that  the  companions  of  Pompeius  were  afraid, 
and  that  he  himself  trembled,  with  staring  eyes  and 
lifeless  features,  "Lay  aside,"  she  said,  "the  fears 
which  your  fluttering  hearts  have  framed.  A  new 
life  shall  soon  be  restored  to  him — life  in  its  familiar 
aspect,  so  that  even  those  who  fear  can  hear  him 
speaking.  Even  if  I  were  to  display  the  pools  of 
Styx  and  the  bank  that  crackles  with  fire — if  my 
consent  should  bring  before  your  eyes  the  Furies, 
and  Cerberus  shaking  his  mane  of  snakes,  and  the 
chained  bodies  of  the  Giants,  why  dread,  ye 
cowards,  to  behold  the  dead  who  fear  me?" 

I'hen  she  began  by  piercing  the  breast  of  the 
corpse  with  fresh  wounds,  which  she  filled  with 
hot  blood ;  she  washed  the  inward  parts  clean  of 
clotted  gore ;  she  poured  in  lavishly  the  poison  that 
the  moon  supplies.  With  this  was  blended  all  that 
Nature  inauspiciously  conceives  and  brings  forth. 
The  froth  of  dogs  that  dread  water  was  not  wanting, 
nor  the  inwards  of  a  lynx,  nor  the  hump  of  a  foul 
hyena,  nor  the  marrow  of  a  stag  that  had  fed  on 
snakes ;  the  echenais  ^  was  there,  which  keeps  a  ship 
motionless  in  mid-ocean,  though  the  wind  is  stretch- 
ing her  cordH«re  ;  eyes  of  dragons  were  there,  and 
stones  that  rattle  when  warmed  under  a  breeding 

353 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  Arabum  volucer  serpens  innataque  rubris 

Aequoribus  custos  pretiosae  vipera  conchae 

Aut  viventls  adhuc  Libyci  membrana  cerastae 

Aut  cinis  Eoa  positi  phoenicis  in  ara.  680 

Quo  postquam  viles  et  habentes  nomina  pestes 

Contulit,  infando  saturatas  carmine  frondes 

Et,  quibus  os  dirum  nascentibus  inspuit,  herbas 

Addidit  et  quidquid  mundo  dedit  ipsa  veneni. 

Turn  vox  Lethaeos  cunctis  poUentior  herbis  685 

Excantare  deos  confundit  murmura  primum 

Dissona  et  humanae  multum  discordia  linguae. 

Latratus  habet  ilia  canum  gemit usque  luporum. 

Quod  trepidus  bubo,  quod  strix  nocturna  queruntur. 

Quod  strident  ululantque  ferae,  quod  sibilat  anguis ;  690 

Exprimit  et  planctus  inlisae  cautibus  undae 

Silvarumque  sonum  fractaeque  tonitrua  nubis  : 

Tot  rerum  vox  una  fuit.     Mox  cetera  cantu 

Explicat  Haemonio  penetratque  in  Tartara  lingua  ; 

"  Eumenides  Stygiumque  nefas  Poenaeque  nocentum  695 

Et  Chaos  innunieros  avidum  confundere  mundos 

Et  rector  terrae,  quem  longa  in  saecula  torquet 

Mors  dilata  deum  ;  Styx  et  quos  nulla  meretur 

Thessalis  Elysios  ;  caelum  matremque  perosa 

Persephone  nostraeque  Hecates  pars  ultima,  per  quam 

Manibus  et  mihi  sunt  tacitae  commercia  linguae,        701 

Janitor  et  sedis  laxae,  qui  viscera  saevo 

Spargis  nostra  cani,  repetitaque  fila  sorores 


*  Persephone  prefers  the  nether  world. 

*  Hecate  had  three  forms— Luna,  Diana,  and  Hecate ;  and 
she  bore  the  last  form  in  the  nether  world. 

3  Not  Cerberus,  who  is  fed  bj'  the  custodian,  but  a  mysterious 
personage  who  occurs  elsewhere. 

354 


I 


BOOK   VI 

eagle ;  the  flying  serpent  of  Arabia,  and  the  viper 
that  is  born  by  the  Red  Sea  and  guards  the  precious 
pearl-shell  ;  the  skin  whicli  the  horned  snake  of 
Libya  casts  off  in  its  lifetime,  and  ashes  of  the 
Phoenix  which  lays  its  body  on  the  Eastern  altar. 
These  ordinary  banes  that  bear  names  she  added  to 
her  brew  ;  and  next  she  put  in  leaves  steeped  with 
magic  unutterable,  and  herbs  which  her  own  dread 
mouth  had  spat  upon  at  their  birth,  and  all  the 
poison  that  she  herself  gave  to  the  world  ;  and  lastly 
her  voice,  more  powerful  than  any  drug  to  bewitch 
the  powers  of  Lethe,  first  uttered  indistinct  sounds, 
sounds  untunable  and  far  different  from  human 
speech.  The  dog's  bark  and  the  wolfs  howl  were 
in  that  voice ;  it  resembled  the  complaint  of  the 
restless  owl  and  the  night-flying  screech-owl,  the 
shrieking  and  roaring  of  wild  beasts,  the  serpent's 
hiss,  the  beat  of  waves  dashing  against  rocks,  the 
sound  of  forests,  and  the  thunder  that  issues  from 
a  rift  in  the  cloud :  in  that  one  voice  all  these  things 
were  heard.  Then  she  went  on  to  speak  plainly  in 
a  Thessalian  spell,  with  accents  that  went  down  to 
Tartarus :  "  I  invoke  the  Furies,  the  horror  of  Hell, 
the  punishments  of  the  guilty,  and  Chaos,  eager  to 
blend  countless  worlds  in  ruins ;  I  cry  to  the  Ruler 
of  the  world  below,  who  suffers  age-long  pain  be- 
cause gods  are  so  slow  to  die ;  to  Styx,  and  Elysium 
where  no  Thessalian  witch  may  enter ;  to  Persephone 
who  shuns  her  mother  in  heaven,^  and  to  her,  the 
third  incarnation  ^  of  our  patron,  Hecate,  who  per- 
mits the  dead  and  me  to  converse  together  without 
speech ;  I  call  on  the  custodian  ^  of  the  spacious 
dwelling,  who  casts  the  flesh  of  men  to  the  ravening 
hound;    on   the    Sisters,  who  must   spin   a  second 

355 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tracturae  tuque  o  flagrantis  portitor  undae, 

lam  lassate  senex  ad  me  redeuntibus  umbris  :  705 

Exaudite  preees.     Si  vos  satis  ore  nefando 

Pollutoque  voco,  si  numquam  haec  earmina  fibris 

Humanis  ieiuna  cano,  si  pectora  plena 

Saepe  deo  lavi  calido  prosecta  cerebro. 

Si  quia,  cum  vestris  caput  extaque  lancibus  infans,  710 

rnposuit  victurus  erat,  parete  precanti. 

Non  in  Tartareo  latitantem  poscimus  antro 

Adsuetamque  diu  tenebris,  modo  luce  fugata 

Descendentem  animam  ;  primo  palientis  hiatu 

Haeret  adhuc  Orci,  licet  has  exaudiat  herbas,  715 

Ad  manes  ventura  semel.     Ducis  omnia  nato 

Pompeiana  canat  nostri  modo  militis  umbra, 

Si  bene  de  vobis  civilia  bella  merentur." 

Haec  ubi  fata  caput  spumantiaque  ora  levavit, 
Aspicit  astantem  proiecti  corporis  umbram,  720 

Exanimes  artus  invisaque  claustra  timentem 
Carceris  antiqui.      Pavet  ire  in  pectus  apertum 
Visceraque  et  ruptas  letali  volnere  fibras. 
A  miser,  extremum  cui  mortis  munus  inique 
Eripitur,  non  posse  mori.     Miratur  Erictho,  725 

Has  fatis  licuisse  moras,  irataque  morti 
Verberat  inmotum  vivo  serpente  cadaver, 
Perque  cavas  terrae,  quas  egit  carmine,  rimas 
Manibus  inlatrat  regnique  silentia  rumpit : 
''  Tisiphone  vocisque  meae  secura  Megaera,  730 


^  Charon. 

2  All  human  breasts  are  inhabited  by  the  divinity. 

3  Lit.  "who  lately  belonged  to  us." 


356 


BOOK   VI 

thread  of  life ;  and  on  the  ancient  ferryman  ^  of  the 
fiery  river,  wliose  arms  are  weary  of  rowing  the  dead 
back  to  me — hear  ye  my  prayer.  If  these  lips  that 
address  you  have  enough  of  horror  and  pollution  ; 
if  1  never  chant  these  spells  when  fasting  from 
human  flesh ;  if  I  have  often  chopped  up  bosoms 
inhabited  by  the  divinity,  ^  and  washed  them  with 
warm  brains;  if  any  infant  would  have  lived 
when  his  head  and  inner  organs  were  laid  upon 
your  platters — then  comply  with  my  petition.  I 
ask  not  for  one  who  lurks  in  the  depths  of  Tartarus 
and  has  long  been  accustomed  to  the  darkness,  but 
for  some  soul  that  is  just  going  down  and  leaving 
the  light  behind  him ;  he  still  lingers  at  the 
entrance  of  the  chasm  that  leads  to  gloomy  Orcus, 
and,  though  he  obey  my  spells  now,  he  will  go  down 
but  once  to  the  shades.  Let  the  ghost  of  a  Pompeian, 
who  but  lately  was  alive,^  foretell  all  the  future 
to  Pompey's  son,  if  ye  owe  gratitude  to  the  civil 
war." 

When  she  had  spoken  thus,  she  raised  her  head 
and  foaming  mouth,  and  saw  beside  her  the  ghost 
of  the  unburied  corpse.  It  feared  the  lifeless  frame 
and  the  hateful  confinement  of  its  former  prison  ; 
it  shrank  from  entering  the  gaping  bosom,  the  vital 
parts,  and  the  flesh  divided  by  a  mortal  wound. 
Hapless  wretch !  unjustly  robbed  of  death's  last 
gift — the  inability  to  die  a  second  time.  Erictho 
marvelled  that  fate  had  power  to  linger  thus. 
Enraged  with  death,  she  lashed  the  passive  corpse 
with  a  live  serpent;  and  through  the  chinks  into 
which  the  earth  was  split  by  her  spells  she  barked 
like  a  dog  at  the  siiades  and  burst  the  silence  of 
their  kingdom  :  "  Tisiphone,  and  Megaera  heedless 

357 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Non  agitis  saevis  Erebi  per  inane  flagellis 
Infelicem  animam  ?  iam  vos  ego  nomine  vero 
Eliciam  Stygiasque  canes  in  luce  superna 
Destituam  ;  per  busta  sequar,  per  funera,  custos ; 
Expellam  tumulis^  abigam  vos  omnibus  urnis.  735 

Teque  deis,  ad  quos  alio  procedere  voltu 
Ficta  soles,  Hecate  pallenti  tabida  forma, 
Ostendam  faciemque  Erebi  mutare  vetabo. 
Eloquar,  inmenso  terrae  sub  pondere  quae  te 
Contineant,  Hennaea,  dapes,  quo  foedere  maestum   740 
Regem  noctis  ames,  quae  te  contagia  passam 
Noluerit  revocare  Ceres.     Tibi,  pessime  mundi 
Arbiter,  inmittam  ruptis  Titan  a  cavernis, 
Et  subito  feriere  die.     Paretis  ?  an  ille 
Conpellandus  erit,  quo  numquam  terra  vocato  745 

Non  concussa  tremit,  qui  Gorgona  cernit  apertam 
Verberibusque  suis  trepidam  castigat  Erinyn, 
Indespecta  tenet  vobis  qui  Tartara,  cuius 
Vos  estis  superi,  Stygias  qui  peierat  undas  ?  " 
Protinus  astrictus  caluit  cruor  atraque  fovit  760 

Volnera  et  in  venas  extremaque  membra  cucurrit. 
Percussae  gelido  trepidant  sub  pectore  fibrae, 
Et  nova  desuetis  subrepens  vita  medullis 
Miscetur  morti.     Tunc  omnes  palpitat  artus, 

^  The  soul  {aniina)  is  clearly  distinct  from  the  ghost  {umbra) 
of  1.  720. 

2  Secret  names,  known  only  to  Erictho. 

2  She  is  called  JTennaea,  because  she  was  carried  off  from 
Henna  by  Pluto.  Erictho  here  professes  to  know  of  some 
unlawful  food  eaten  by  Proserpina,  and  of  some  unlawful  bond 
between  her  and  her  husband  ;  but  all  this  may  be  invented  by 
Lucan.  It  is  impossible  that  he  can  refer  here  to  the  story  of 
the  pomegranate,  which  was  universally  known. 

*  The  order  of  the  world's  rulers  is:  (1)  Jupiter;  (2)  Nep- 
tune ;   (3)  Pluto. 

358 


BOOK   VI 

of  my  voice,  will  you  not  drive  with  your  cruel 
scourges  that  wretched  soul  ^  through  the  waste  of 
Erebus  ?  Soon  will  I  summon  you  forth  by  your 
real  names,^  and  leave  you,  hounds  of  Hell,  helpless 
in  the  light  of  the  upper  world ;  through  graves  and 
burials  I  shall  follow  you  and  mark  you ;  I  shall 
drive  you  from  tombs,  and  banish  you  from  all  urns 
of  the  dead.  And  you,  Hecate,  wasted  and  pale  of 
aspect,  who  are  wont  to  make  up  your  face  before 
you  visit  the  gods  above,  I  shall  show  you  to  them 
as  you  are  and  prevent  you  from  putting  off  the  hue 
of  Hell.  I  shall  tell  the  world  the  nature  of  that 
food  which  confines  Proserpina  ^  beneath  the  huge 
weight  of  earth,  the  bond  of  love  that  unites  her  to 
the  gloomy  king  of  night,  and  the  defilement  she 
suffered,  such  that  her  mother  would  not  call  her 
back.  And  on  you,  worst  of  the  world's  Rulers,*  I 
shall  launch  the  sun's  light,  bursting  open  your 
den ;  and  the  sudden  light  shall  blast  you.  Do  ye 
obey  me  ?  Or  must  I  appeal  to  Him,^  at  the  sound 
of  whose  name  the  earth  ever  quakes  and  trembles. 
He  looks  on  the  Gorgon's  head  unveiled ;  He  lashes 
the  cowering  Fury  with  her  own  scourge;  He 
dwells  in  a  Tartarus  beneath  your  view ;  to  Him  ye 
are  the  gods  above ;  He  swears  by  the  Styx,  and 
breaks  his  oath." — Instantly  the  clotted  blood  grew 
warm  ;  it  warmed  the  livid  wounds,  coursing  into  the 
veins  and  the  extremities  of  the  limbs.  Struck  by 
it,  the  vital  organs  thrilled  within  the  cold  breast ; 
and  a  new  life,  stealing  into  the  inward  parts  that 
had  lost  it,  wrestled  with  death.     Next,  the  dead 

*  The  mysterious  deity  known  as  Demiurgus  is  apparently 
used  to  threaten  the  infernal  powers  with. 

359 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tenduntur  nervi ;  nee  se  tellure  cadaver  755 

Paulatim  per  membra  levat,  terraque  repulsum  est 

Erectumque  semel.     Distento  lumina  rictu 

Niidantur.     Nondum  facies  viventis  in  illo, 

lam  morientis  erat ;  remanet  pallorque  rigorque, 

Et  stupet  inlatus  mundo.     Sed  murmure  nullo  760 

Ora  astricta  sonant :  vox  illi  linguaque  tantum 

Responsura  datiir.     ^'  Die  "  inquit  Thessala  ''  magna. 

Quod  iubeo,  mercede  mihi ;  nam  vera  locutum 

Inmunem  toto  mundi  praestabimus  aevo 

Artibiis  Haemoniis  ;  tali  tua  membra  sepulchre,         765 

Talibus  exuram  Stygio  cum  carmine  silvis, 

Ut  nullos  cantata  magos  exaudiat  umbra. 

Sit  tanti  vixisse  iterum  :  nee  verba  nee  herbae 

Audebunt  longae  somnum  tibi  solvere  Letlies 

A  me  morte  data.     Tripodas  vatesque  deorum  770 

Sors  obscura  decet :  certus  discedat,  ab  umbris 

Quisquis  vera  petit  duraeque  oracula  mortis 

Fortis  adit.     Ne  parce,  precor  :  da  nomina  rebus, 

Da  loca  ;  da  vocem,  qua  mecum  fata  loquantur." 

Addidit  et  carmen,  quo,  quidquid  consulit,  umbram   775 

Scire  dedit.      Maestum  fletu  manante  cadaver 

"  Tristia  non  equidem  Parcarum  stamina  "  dixit 

"  Aspexi  tacitae  revocatus  ab  aggere  ripae  ; 

Quod  tamen  e  cunctis  mihi  noscere  contigit  umbris, 

EfFera  Romanos  agitat  discordia  manes,  780 

Inpiaque  infernam  ruperunt  arma  quietem  ; 

*  He  had  passed  from  the  state  of  death  to  that  of  dying,  ou 
his  way  to  become  alive. 

360 


BOOK   VI 

man  quivered  in  every  limb ;  the  sinews  were 
strained,  and  he  rose,  not  slowly  or  limb  by  limb, 
but  rebounding  from  the  earth  and  standing  erect 
at  once.  His  mouth  gaped  wide  and  his  eyes  were 
open  ;  he  looked  as  if  he  were  not  yet  alive  but 
already  like  a  man  dying/^  The  pallor  and  stiffness 
remained  ;  and  he  was  dazed  by  his  restoration  to 
this  world.  The  mouth  was  fettered  and  gave  forth 
no  sound  :  voice  and  utterance  were  given  him  but 
only  for  the  purpose  of  reply.  "  Speak  at  my  com- 
mand," said  the  witch,  "and  great  shall  be  your 
reward  ;  for  if  you  speak  truth,  I  shall  make  you 
safe  from  witchcraft  throughout  all  time.  On 
such  a  pyre  and  with  such  fuel  shall  I  burn  your 
body,  chanting  a  Stygian  spell  the  while,  that  your 
ghost  shall  remain  deaf  to  the  incantation  of  all 
sorcerers.  Consider  a  second  life  a  price  worth 
pa}  ing  for  this :  neither  herbs  nor  spells  will  dare 
to  break  your  long  sleep  of  oblivion,  once  you  receive 
death  from  me,  A  riddling  answer  befits  the  oracles 
and  prophets  of  the  gods ;  but  if  any  man  seeks  to 
know  the  truth  from  the  dead  and  has  courage  to 
approach  the  oracles  of  stern  death,  let  him  depart 
assured.  Be  not  grudging,  I  pray:  give  events 
their  names,  their  places  ;  and  provide  a  voice  by 
which  Fate  may  communicate  with  me."  Then  she 
added  a  spell,  which  enabled  the  ghost  to  know  all 
that  she  asked.  The  dead  man  spoke  in  sorrow, 
and  his  tears  flowed  fast  :  "  Brought  back  from  the 
high  bank  of  the  silent  river,  I  saw  not  the  cruel 
Fates  at  their  spinning ;  but  this  I  was  able  to  learn 
from  all  the  shades — that  furious  strife  prevails 
among  the  Roman  dead,  and  that  civil  war  has 
shattered  the  peace  of  the  infernal  world.     From 

361 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Elysias  Latii  ^  sedes  ac  Tartara  maesta 
Diversi  liquere  duces.     Quid  fata  pararent. 
Hi  fecere  palam.     Tristis  felicibus  umbris 
Voltus  erat :  vidi  Decios,  natumque  patremque  785 

Lustrales  bellis  animas,  flentemque  Camillum 
Et  Curios,  Sullam  de  te,  Fortuna,  querentem. 
Deplorat  Libycis  perituram  Scipio  terris 
Infaustam  subolem  ;  maior  Carthaginis  hostis 
Non  servituri  maeret  Cato  fata  nepotis.  790 

Solum  te,  consul  depulsis  prime  tyrannis 
Brute,  pias  inter  gaudentem  vidimus  umbras. 
Abruptis  Catilina  minax  fractisque  catenis 
Exultat  Mariique  truces  nudique  Cethegi  ; 
Vidi  ego  laetantes,  popularia  nomina,  Drusos  705 

Legibus  inmodicos  ausosque  ingentia  Gracchos. 
Aeternis  chalybis  nodis  et  carcere  Ditis 
Constrictae  plausere  manus,  camposque  piorum 
Poscit  turba  nocens.     Regni  possessor  inertis 
Pallentes  aperit  sedes,  abruptaque  saxa  800 

Asperat  et  durum  vinclis  adamanta,  paratque 
Poenam  victori.     Refer  haec  solacia  tecum, 
O  iuvenis,  placido  manes  patremque  domumque 
Expectare  sinu  regnique  in  parte  serena 
Pompeis  servare  locum.     Nee  gloria  parvae  806 

Sollicitet  vitae  :  veniet  quae  misceat  omnes 
Hora  duces.     Properate  mori  magnoque  superbi 
Quamvis  e  parvis  animo  descendite  bustis 
Et  Romanorum  manes  calcate  deorum. 
Quem  tumulum  Nili,  quem  Thybridis  adluat  unda,     810 
^  Latii  Ilousman  :  alti  or  alii  MSS. 

*  The  Censor  who  repeated  the  saving,  delenda  est  Karthago. 
^  He  foresaw  that  his  descendant  would  kill  Caesar. 

^  See  note  to  ii.  543. 

*  These  are  the  emperors  deified  after  death. 

362 


BOOK   VI 

opposite  quarters  the  mightiest  Romans  have  left 
Elysium  and  gloomy  Tartarus ;  and  they  have  made 
clear  what  fate  has  in  store.  For  the  blessed  dead 
wore  a  sorrowful  aspect :  I  saw  the  Decii,  tlie  father 
and  son  who  devoted  their  lives  to  the  gods  in 
battle,  and  Camillas,  and  Curius ;  they  all  wept, 
and  Sulla  railed  against  Fortune.  Scipio  was 
grieved  that  the  unhappy  scion  of  his  race  should 
fall  on  Libyan  soil ;  and  Cato/  a  still  fiercer  foe  of 
Carthage,  lamented  the  death  which  his  descendant 
prefers  to  slavery.  Only  one  of  the  blest  I  saw 
rejoicing — it  was  Brutus,^  the  first  consul  after  the 
kings  were  thrown  down.  But  formidable  Catiline 
had  snapped  and  broken  his  fetters,  and  was  exult- 
ing, together  with  fierce  Marius  and  Cethegus  of 
the  naked  arm ;  ^  I  saw  the  delight  of  Drusus,  the 
demagogue  and  rash  legislator,  and  of  the  Gracchi, 
whose  boldness  knew  no  limit.  Their  hands,  fet- 
tered by  everlasting  links  ot  s1?eel  and  by  Pluto's 
prison-house,  clapped  for  joy ;  and  the  wicked 
claimed  the  plains  of  the  blessed.  The  lord  of  that 
stagnant  realm  throws  wide  his  dim  abode ;  he 
sharpens  his  steep  rocks  and  the  hard  steel  for 
fetters,  preparing  punishment  for  the  victorious  rival. 
Take  back  this  consolation  with  you,  Pompeius, — 
that  the  dead  look  to  welcome  your  father  and  his 
family  in  a  peaceful  retreat,  and  are  keeping  a  place 
for  him  and  his  in  the  bright  portion  of  their 
kingdom.  Let  not  short-lived  glory  trouble  you : 
the  hour  will  soon  come  that  makes  all  the  leaders 
equal.  Make  haste  to  die ;  proud  of  your  high 
hearts,  go  down  from  graves  however  humble,  and 
trample  on  the  ghosts  of  the  gods  of  Rome.*  By 
whose  grave  shall  flow  the  Nile,  and  by  whose  the 

363 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quaeritur,  et  ducibus  tantum  de  funere  pugna  est 

Tu  fatum  ne  quaere  tuum  :  cognoscere  Parcae 

Me  reticente  dabunt ;  tibi  certior  omnia  vates 

Ipse  canet  Siculis  genitor  Pompeius  in  arvis, 

Ille  quoque  incertus,  quo  te  vocet,  unde  repellat, 

Quas  iubeat  vitare  plagas,  quae  sidera  mundi.  815 

Europam,  miseri,  Libyamque  Asiamque  timete : 

Distribuit  tumulos  vestris  fortuna  triumphis. 

O  miseranda  domus^  toto  nil  orbe  videbis 

Tutius  Emathia."     Sic  postquam  fata  peregit,  820 

Stat  voltu  maestus  tacito  mortemque  reposcit. 

Carminibus  magicis  opus  est  herbisque,  cadaver 

Ut  cadat,  et  nequeunt  animam  sibi  reddere  fata 

Consumpto  iam  iure  semel.     Tunc  robore  muito 

Extruit  ilia  rogum  ;  venit  defunctus  ad  ignes.  825 

Accensa  iuvenem  positum  strue  liquit  Erictho 

Tandem  passa  mori,  Sextoque  ad  castra  parentis 

It  comes,  et  caelo  lucis  ducente  colorem, 

Dum  ferrent  tutos  intra  tentoria  gressus, 

lussa  tenere  diem  densas  nox  praestitit  umbras.  830 

1  It  appears  that  Lucan  intended  to  bring  in  Ponipey's 
ghost  later  ;  but  that  part  of  the  poem  was  never  written. 

2  Pompey  himself  was  murdered  in  l^gypt ;  his  elder  son, 
Gnaeus,  fell  in  Spain ;  and  Sextus  himself  was  killed  at" 
Miletus  in  Asia.  Pompey  had  triumphed  over  Numidia, 
Spain,  and  Asia 


364 


BOOK   VI 

Tiber — that  is  the  question ;  and  the  battle  of  the 
rivals  settles  nothing  but  their  place  of  burial. 
For  yourself,  enquire  not  concerning  your  destiny ; 
the  Fates  will  enlighten  you,  with  no  words  from 
me ;  for  your  father  himself,  a  surer  prophet,  will 
tell  you  all  in  the  land  of  Sicily ;  ^  and  even  he 
knows  not  whither  to  summon  you  and  whence  to 
warn  you  away,  what  region  or  clime  he  must 
bid  you  avoid.  Ill-fated  house !  you  must  fear 
Europe  and  Africa  and  Asia ;  Fortune  divides  your 
graves  among  the  lands  you  have  triumphed  over ;  ^ 
you  shall  find  no  place  in  all  the  world  less  dangerous 
than  Pharsalia." — When  he  had  ended  thus  his 
prophecy,  he  stood  still  in  silence  and  sorrow,  de- 
manding to  die  once  more.  Spells  and  drugs  were 
needed  before  the  corpse  could  die ;  and  death, 
having  exerted  all  its  power  already,  could  not 
claim  the  life  again.  Then  the  witch  built  up  a 
great  pyre  of  wood ;  the  dead  man  walked  to  the 
fire ;  and  Erictho  left  him  stretched  upon  the 
lighted  pile,  and  suffered  him  at  last  to  die. 
Together  with  Sextus  she  went  to  his  father's 
camp.  The  sky  was  now  taking  on  the  hue  of 
dawn ;  but,  at  her  bidding,  night  held  back  day 
and  gave  them  thick  darkness  until  they  should  set 
foot  in  safety  within  the  encampment. 


365 


BOOK  VII 


LIBER  SEPTIMUS 

Segnior,  Oceano  quam  lex  aeterna  vocabat, 
Luctificus  Titan  numquam  magis  aethera  contra 
Egit  equos  cursumque  polo  rapiente  retorsitj 
Defectusque  pati  voluit  raptaeque  labores 
Lucis,  et  attraxit  nubes,  non  pabula  flammis,  5 

Sed  ne  Thessalico  purus  luceret  in  orbe. 
At  nox  felicis  Magno  pars  ultima  vitae 
Sollicitos  vana  decepit  imagine  somnos. 
Nam  Pompeiani  visus  sibi  sede  theatri 
Innumeram  effigiem  Romanae  cernere  plebis  10 

Attollique  suum  laetis  ad  sidera  noraen 
Vocibus  et  plausu  cuneos  certare  sonantes ; 
Qualis  erat  populi  facies  clamorque  faventis 
Olim,  cum  iuvenis  primique  aetate  triumphi 
Post  domitas  gentes,  quas  torrens  ambit  Hiberus,         15 
Et  quaecumque  fugax  Sertorius  inpulit  arma, 
Vespere  pacato,  pura  venerabilis  aeque 
Quam  currus  ornante  toga,  plaudente  senatu, 
Sedit  adhuc  Romanus  eques  :  seu  fine  bonorum 


*  The  ancients  believed  that  the  sun's  own  motion  across  the 
sky  was  from  West  to  East,  but  that  the  sky  itself  revolvedl 
from  East  to  West  at  a  greater  rate  and  so  carried  the  sun] 
with  it. 

*  Lucan  is  mistaken:  Pompey  triumphed  three  times  :  (\)\ 
over  Numidia  in  81  B.C. ;  (2}  over  Spain  in  71  ;  (3)  over  Asia] 

368 


\ 


BOOK   VII 

Unpunctual  to  the  summons  of  eternal  law,  the 
sorrowing  Sun  rose  from  Ocean,  driving  his  steeds 
harder  than  ever  against  the  revolution  of  the  sky, 
and  urging  his  course  backwards,  though  the  heavens 
whirled  him  on  ;^  fain  would  he  have  suffered  eclipse 
and  the  pain  of  losing  his  light ;  and  he  drew  clouds 
towards  him,  not  to  feed  his  flames,  but  to  prevent 
him  from  shining  unsullied  in  the  region  of  Thessaly. 

That  night,  the  end  of  happiness  in  the  life  of 
Magnus,  beguiled  his  troubled  sleep  with  a  hollow 
semblance.  He  dreamed  that  he  was  sitting  in  his 
own  theatre  and  saw  in  a  vision  the  countless 
multitudes  of  Rome  ;  and  that  his  name  was  lifted 
to  the  sky  in  their  shouts  of  joy,  while  all  the  tiers 
vied  in  proclaiming  his  praise.  Such  was  the  aspect 
of  the  people,  sucli  was  their  loud  applause,  in  his 
distant  youth,  at  the  time  of  his  first  ^  triumph  : 
he  had  conquered  the  clans  surrounded  by  the  swift 
Hiberus,  and  defeated  every  force  that  Sertorius  had 
hurled  against  him  in  guerilla  warfare ;  he  had 
given  peace  to  the  West,  and  now  he  sat  and  was 
cheered  by  senators,  himself  no  more  as  yet  than 
a    Roman   knight,   but   no    less  worshipped    in   his 

in  61.     In  71  he  was  still  an  eques,  but  he  began  his  first 
consulship  on  January  1st,  70. 

369 
VOL.  I.  V 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Anxia  Venturis  ad  tempora  laeta  refugit,  20 

Sive  per  ambages  soiitas  contraria  visis 

Vaticinata  quies  magni  tulit  omina  planctus, 

Seu  vetito  patrias  ultra  tibi  camera  sedes 

Sic  Romam  Fortuna  dedit.     Na  rumpite  somnos, 

Castrorum  vigilas,  nullas  tuba  verberat  auras.  26 

Crastina  dira  quies  at  imagine  maesta  diurna 

Undique  funestas  acies  feret,  undique  bellum. 

Unda  pares  somnos  populis  noctemque  beatam? 

O  falix,  si  ta  val  sic  tua  Roma  videret  I 

Donassent  utinam  superi  patriaeque  tibique  30 

Unum,  Magne,  diem,  quo  fati  certus  uterque 

Extramum  tanti  fructum  raparetis  amoris. 

Tu  valut  Ausonia  vadis  moriturus  in  urbe. 

Ilia  rati  semper  de  te  sibi  conscia  voti 

Hoc  scelus  baud  umquam  fatis  haerere  putavit,  36 

Sic  se  dilecti  turaulum  quoque  perdera  Magni. 

Ta  mixto  flasset  luctu  iuvenisque  senexque 

Iniussusque  puer  ;  lacerasset  crine  soluto 

Pectora  famineum,  cau  Bruti  funera,  volgus. 

Nunc  quoque,  tela  licet  paveant  victoris  iniqui,  40 

Nuntiet  ipse  licet  Caesar  tua  funera,  flebunt. 

Sad  dum  tura  ferunt,  dum  laurea  sarta  Tonanti. 


*  populi   here    must    stand    for    the    Roman   people   or   the 
Italians  :  comp.  i.  511.    pares  is  adjective,  not  a  verb. 


BOOK   VII 

plain  robe  of  white  than  in  that  which  adorns  the 
triumphal  car.  Perhaps  his  dreams  took  refuge  in 
happier  days  because  they  feared  the  future  and 
because  prosperity  was  ended  ;  perhaps  sleep  in- 
directly, as  her  custom  is,  presaged  the  opposite  of 
his  dream  and  foretold  a  great  lamentation ;  or  else 
Fortune  brought  Rome  before  him  thus,  because  it 
was  ordained  that  he  should  never  see  his  home 
again.  Break  not  his  sleep,  watchmen  of  the  camp ; 
let  no  trumpet  beat  upon  his  ear.  To-morrow 
his  sleep  will  be  haunted :  saddened  by  visions  of 
the  day,  it  will  present  nothing  but  the  fatal  field, 
nothing  but  war.  Would  that  the  Romans^  could 
have  had  a  night  of  happiness  and  such  a  sleep 
as  his  !  Fortunate  had  been  the  Rome  he  loved, 
if  she  had  seen  him  even  in  a  dream.  One  day 
at  least  the  gods  should  have  granted  to  him  and 
to  his  country,  on  which  each,  with  full  knowledge  of 
the  future,  might  have  snatched  the  last  enjoyment 
of  their  great  love  for  one  another.  He  goes 
forth,  believing  that  he  is  destined  to  die  at  Rome  ; 
and  Rome,  knowing  that  her  prayers  for  him  had 
always  been  answered,  refused  to  believe  that  this 
horror  was  written  in  the  book  of  destiny — that  she 
should  thus  lose  even  the  grave  of  her  beloved 
Magnus.  Young  and  old,  blending  their  grief, 
would  have  mourned  for  him,  and  even  children 
uncompelled  ;  the  crowd  of  women  would  have  let 
down  their  hair  and  torn  their  breasts,  as  when 
Brutus  was  buried.  Even  as  it  is,  though  men 
dread  the  arms  of  the  tyrannous  conqueror,  though 
Caesar  himself  announce  the  death,  weep  they  will, 
even  while  oifering  incense  and  laurel  wreaths  to 
the  Thunderer.     Unhappy  Romans !    whose  groans 

371 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

O  miseri,  quorum  gemitus  edere  dolorem. 
Qui  te  non  pleno  pariter  planxere  theatre. 

Vicerat  astra  iubar,  cum  mixto  murmure  turba 
Castrorum  fremuit  fatisque  trahentibus  orbem 
Signa  petit  pugnae.     Miseri  pars  maxima  volgi 
Non  totum  visura  diem  tentoria  circum 
Ipsa  ducis  queritur  magnoque  accensa  tumultu 
Mortis  vicinae  properantes  admovet  horas. 
Dira  subit  rabies  ;  sua  quisque  ac  publica  fata 
Praecipitare  cupit ;  segnis  pavidusque  vocatur 
Ac  nimium  patiens  soceri  Pompeius,  et  orbis 
Indulgens  regno,  qui  tot  simul  undique  gentes 
luris  habere  sui  vellet  pacemque  timeret. 
Nee  non  et  reges  populique  queruntur  Eoi 
Bella  tralii  patriaque  procul  tellure  teneri. 
Hoc  placet,  o  superi,  cum  vobis  veitere  cuncta 
Propositum,  nostris  erroribus  addere  crimen  ? 
Cladibus  inruimus  nocituraque  poscimus  anna  ; 
In  Pompeianis  votura  est  Pliarsalia  castris. 
Cunctorum  voces  Romani  maximus  auctor 
Tullius  eloquii,  cuius  sub  iure  togaque 
Pacificas  saevus  tremuit  Catilina  secures, 
Pertulit  iratus  bellis,  cum  rostra  forumque 
Optaret,  passus  tam  longa  silentia  miles. 
Addidit  invalidae  robur  facundia  causae. 

"  Hoc  pro  tot  meritis  solum  te,  Magne,  precatur 
Uti  se  Foituna  velis,  proceresque  tuorum 

1  Cicero  was  not  really  present  at  Pharsalia  :  we  have  Livy's| 
authority  for  this. 

372 


BOOK    VII 

swallowed  down  their  grief,  and  who  could  not 
all  together  make  lamentation  for  Pompey  in  the 
crowded  theatre. 

Sunshine  had  conquered  the  stars  when  the  soldiery 
raged  with  confused  muttering  and  demanded  the 
signal  for  battle ;  Fortune  was  haling  the  world  to 
destruction.  Most  of  that  hapless  throng  were  fated 
not  to  see  the  day  out ;  but  they  crowded  close 
to  the  leader's  tent  and  murmured  ;  in  heat  and 
great  disorder  they  brought  nearer  the  hasting  hour 
of  imminent  death.  A  dreadful  frenzy  comes  over 
them ;  each  is  eager  to  hurry  on  his  own  fate  and 
the  fate  of  his  country.  They  call  Pompey  slow 
and  cowardly  and  too  indulgent  to  his  kinsman ; 
he  is  seduced,  say  they,  by  the  sovereignty  of  the 
world ;  he  wishes  to  keep  under  his  own  sway  so 
many  nations  from  every  quarter ;  and  he  dreads  a 
peace.  The  kings  and  peoples  of  the  East  also 
complain  that  the  campaign  drags  on  too  long,  and 
that  they  are  detained  far  from  their  own  countries. 
Ye  gods,  when  it  is  your  set  purpose  to  ruin 
all  things,  does  it  please  you  to  add  guilt  on  our 
part  to  mere  mistakes?  We  rush  upon  disaster, 
and  clamour  for  battle  that  will  destroy  us ;  and  in 
Pompey's  camp  men  pray  for  Pharsalia.  The  pro- 
tests of  the  multitude  were  conveyed  by  Cicero, 
the  chief  model  of  Roman  eloquence,  Cicero,^  be- 
neath whose  civilian  authority  fierce  Catiline  dreaded 
the  axes  of  peace.  Longing  for  the  rostrum  and 
the  Forum,  and  muzzled  so  long  by  military  service, 
he  detested  war.  His  eloquence  gave  force  to 
an  unsound  argument. 

"  Magnus,  in  return  for  all  her  favours  Fortune 
makes  one  request  of  you — that  you  will  deign  to 

373 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Castrorum  regesque  tui  cum  supplice  mundo 

Adfusi,  vinci  socerum  patiare  rogamus. 

Humani  generis  tam  longo  tempore  bellum 

Caesar  erit  ?  merito  Pompeium  vincere  lente 

Gentibus  indignum  est  a  transcurrente  subactis. 

Quo  tibi  fervor  abit  aut  quo  fiducia  fati  ? 

De  superis,  ingrate,  times  causamque  senatus 

Credere  dis  dubitas  ?  ipsae  tua  signa  revellent 

Prosilientque  acies  :  pudeat  vicisse  coactum. 

Si  duce  te  iusso,  si  nobis  bella  geruntur, 

Sit  iuris,  quocumque  velint,  concurrere  campo. 

Quid  mundi  gladios  a  sanguine  Caesaris  arces  ? 

Vibrant  tela  manus,  vix  signa  morantia  quisquam 

Expectat :  propera,  te  ne  tua  classica  linquant. 

Scire  senatus  avet,  miles  te,  Magne,  sequatur 

An  comes."     Ingemuit  rector  sensitque  deorum 

Esse  dolos  et  fata  suae  contraria  menti. 

"  Si  placet  hoc  "  inquit  "  cunctis,  si  milite  Magno, 

Non  duce  tempus  eget,  nil  ultra  fata  morabor  : 

Involvat  populos  una  fortuna  ruina, 

Sitque  hominum  magnae  lux  ista  novissima  parti. 

Testor,  Roma,  tamen  Magnum,  quo  cuncta  perirent, 

Accepisse  diem.     Potuit  tibi  volnere  nullo 

374 


BOOK    VII 

make  use  of  her ;  and  we,  the  chief  men  of  your 
army,  and  the  kings  you  made,  together  with  the 
whole  world  upon  its  knees,  now  prostrate  ourselves 
at  your  feet  and  ask  that  you  will  consent  to  the 
conquest  of  your  father-in-law.  Shall  Caesar  remain 
for  ever  the  cause  of  war  to  mankind?  Nations 
whom  Pompey  subdued  while  he  hurried  past  them 
have  a  right  to  resent  his  slowness  to  conquer  now. 
What  has  become  of  your  eager  haste,  or  of  your 
confidence  in  your  star  ?  Are  you  ungrateful  enough 
to  doubt  Heaven's  favour  ?  Do  you  hesitate  to 
trust  the  cause  of  the  Senate  to  the  gods?  The 
soldiery,  of  their  own  accord,  will  wrench  up  your 
standards  and  rush  forward  ;  you  should  blush  to 
have  victory  forced  upon  you.  If  we  have  appointed 
you  to  lead  us,  and  if  the  war  is  waged  for  our 
benefit,  then  let  the  men  have  leave  to  fight  on 
whatever  field  they  will.  Why  do  you  keep  away 
the  swords  of  all  mankind  from  Caesar's  throat? 
Arms  are  brandished,  and  scarce  can  any  man  bear 
to  wait  for  the  lagging  signal ;  make  haste,  or  else 
your  own  trumpets  will  leave  you  behind.  The 
senators  would  fain  know  this,  Magnus,  whether 
they  follow  you  in  order  to  fight  or  merely  to  escort 
you  where  you  go."  The  leader  groaned  :  he  per- 
ceived that  the  gods  were  playing  him  false,  and  that 
destiny  was  thwarting  his  purpose.  "If  this,"  said 
he,  "is  the  desire  of  all,  and  if  the  crisis  needs 
me,  not  as  a  commander  but  as  a  soldier,  I  will 
keep  doom  at  bay  no  longer.  Let  Fortune  whelm 
the  nations  in  a  single  overthrow,  and  let  yonder 
light  be  the  last  for  half  mankind.  At  least  I  call 
Rome  to  witness  that  the  day  of  universal  destruc- 
tion has  been  forced  upon  me.      The  toil   of  war 

375 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Stare  labor  belli ;  potui  sine  caede  subactum 

Captivumque  dueem  violatae  tradere  paci. 

Quis  furor,  o  caeci,  scelerum  ?     Civilia  bella  96 

Gesturi  metuunt,  ne  non  cum  sanguine  vineant. 

Abstuliraus  terras,  exclusimus  aequore  toto. 

Ad  praematuras  segetum  ieiuna  rapinas 

Agmina  conpulimus,  votumque  efFecimus  hosti, 

Ut  mallet  sterni  gladiis  mortemque  suorum  loo 

Permiscere  meis.     Belli  pars  magna  peracta  est 

His,  qiiibus  effectum  est,  ne  pugnam  tiro  paveret. 

Si  modo  virtutis  stimulis  iraeque  calore 

Signa  petunt.     Multos  in  summa  pericula  misit 

Venturi  timor  ipse  mali.     Fortissimus  ille  est,  105 

Qui  promptus  metuenda  pati,  si  comminus  instent, 

Et  differre  potest.     Placet  haec  tam  prospera  rerum 

Tradere  fortunae,  gladio  permittere  mundi 

Discrimen  ;  pugnare  ducem,  quam  vincere,  malunt. 

Res  mihi  Romanas  dederas,  Fortuna,  regendas  ;  110 

Accipe  maiores  et  caeco  in  Marte  tuere. 

Pompei  nee  crimen  erit  nee  gloria  bellum. 

Vincis  apud  superos  votis  me,  Caesar,  iniquis  : 

Pugnatur.     Quantum  scelerum  quantumque  malorum 

In  populos  lux  ista  feret !  quot  regna  iacebunt !  115 

Sanguine  Romano  quam  turbidus  ibit  EnipeusI 

Prima  velim  caput  hoc  funesti  lancea  belli. 

Si  sine  momento  rerum  partisque  ruina 

376 


BOOK    VII 

might  have  cost  Rome  no  bloodshed ;  I  might  have 
won  a  bloodless  victory  over  Caesar  and  handed  him 
over,  a  captive,  to  the  peace  he  has  outraged. 
What  guilty  madness,  what  blindness  is  this  !  Men 
about  to  wage  civil  war  are  actually  afraid  of  winning 
a  bloodless  victory.  We  have  wrenched  the  land 
from  the  enemy,  and  expelled  him  utterly  from 
the  sea ;  we  have  forced  his  starving  ranks  to  snatch 
the  corn  ere  it  was  ripe  ;  we  have  made  him  pray 
to  fall  rather  by  the  sword  and  to  mingle  the  corpses 
of  his  soldiers  with  the  corpses  of  mine.  By  the 
strategy,  thanks  to  which  my  recruits  have  no  fear 
of  battle,  the  campaign  is  half  won  already,  if 
indeed  the  spur  of  valour  and  the  heat  of  pugnacity 
make  them  demand  the  signal  for  action.  But 
many  are  driven  to  utmost  peril  by  the  mere  dread 
of  coming  danger.  He  is  truly  brave,  who  is  both 
quick  to  endure  the  ordeal,  if  it  be  close  and 
pressing,  and  willing  also  to  let  it  wait.  It  is 
resolved  to  hand  over  our  present  prosperous  con- 
dition to  chance,  and  to  let  the  sword  decide  the 
doom  of  the  world ;  men  had  rather  see  their  leader 
fight  than  conquer.  Fortune  gave  me  the  Roman 
State  to  rule ;  I  give  it  back  now  greater  than  I 
received  it,  and  I  call  upon  her  to  guard  it  in  the 
hurly-burly  of  war.  The  act  of  fighting  will  never 
bring  either  reproach  or  glory  to  me.  In  the  court 
of  Heaven  Caesar's  prayers  for  evil  prevail  over  me; 
and  battle  there  is  to  be.  How  much  crime  and 
how  much  suffering  this  day  will  bring  to  the 
nations!  How  many  thrones  will  be  upset!  How 
dark  the  Enipeus  will  flow  with  Roman  blood  I  The 
first  missile  hurled  in  this  fatal  war  is  welcome  to 
find  its  billet  in  my  head,  if  that  head  could  fall 

377 


M.   ANNAEUS  LUCANUS 

Casurum  est,  feriat ;  neque  enim  victoria  Magno 

Laetior.     Aut  populis  invisum  hac  clade  peracta  120 

Aut  hodie  Pompeius  erit  miserabile  nomen  : 

Omne  malum  victi,  quod  sors  feret  ultima  rerum, 

Omne  nefas  victoris  erit."     Sic  fatur  et  arma 

Permittit  populis  frenosque  furentibus  ira 

Laxat  et  ut  victus  violento  navita  Coro  125 

Dat  regimen  ventis  ignavumque  arte  relicta 

Puppis  onus  trahitur.     Trepido  confusa  tumultu 

Castra  fremunt,  animique  truces  sua  pectora  pulsant 

Ictibus  incertis.     Multorum  pallor  in  ore 

Mortis  venturae  faciesque  simillima  fato.  130 

Advenisse  diem,  qui  fatum  rebus  in  aevum 

Conderet  Immanis,  et  quaeri,  Roma  quid  esset, 

Illo  Marte  palam  est.     Sua  quisque  pericula  nescit 

Attonitus  maiore  metu.     Quis  litora  ponto 

Obruta,  quis  summis  cernens  in  montibus  aequor        136 

Aetheraque  in  terras  deiecto  sole  cadentem, 

Tot  rerum  finem,  timeat  sibi  ?  non  vacat  ullos 

Pro  se  ferre  metus  :  urbi  Magnoque  timetur. 

Nee  gladiis  habuere  fidem,  nisi  cautibus  asper 

Exarsit  mucro ;  tunc  omnis  lancea  saxo  140 

Erigitur,  tendunt  nervis  melioribus  arcus, 

Cura  fuit  lectis  pharetras  inplere  sagittis. 

Auget  eques  stimulos  frenorumque  artat  habenas. 


^  The  conqueror,  whether  Pompey  or  Caesar,  must  inevitably 
inflict  cruelties  on  the  defeated  array,  and  will  therefore  be 
hated. 


I 


BOOK    VII 

without  influence  on  the  issue  and  without  the 
destruction  of  our  cause  ;  for  to  me  victory  is  no 
more  welcome  than  defeat.  When  to-day's  carnage 
is  complete,  the  name  of  Pompey  will  be  one  for 
the  world  either  to  hate  or  to  pity  :  every  woe  that 
utter  ruin  brings  will  the  vanquished  suffer,  and 
every  horror  will  the  conqueror  commit."  ^  With 
these  words  he  suffers  the  nations  to  arm,  and 
gave  a  loose  to  their  frenzied  passion  ;  so  the  sailor, 
when  mastered  by  the  fury  of  the  gale,  makes  no 
use  of  his  skill,  but  leaves  the  steering  to  the  winds, 
and  is  swept  along,  an  ignominious  burden  of  his 
vessel.  The  camp  hums  with  the  confusion  of  haste 
and  disorder,  and  fierce  hearts  beat  with  irregular 
throbbing  against  the  breasts  that  contain  them. 
The  pale  flag  of  coming  death  appeared  on  many 
faces ;  and  their  aspect  was  the  very  picture  of 
doom.  It  was  clear  to  all  that  a  day  had  come 
which  must  settle  the  destiny  of  mankind  for  ages, 
and  that  this  battle  must  decide  what  Rome  was  to 
be.  Each  man  ignores  his  personal  danger,  appalled 
by  a  mightier  fear.  Who  that  saw  the  shore  covered 
by  the  sea  and  the  waves  reaching  the  mountain- 
tops,  the  sky  falling  down  upon  the  earth  and  the 
sun  dashed  from  his  place,  could  regard  with  selfish 
fear  such  wide  destruction  }  Men's  minds  are  not 
at  leisure  to  fear  for  themselves  :  they  tremble  for 
Rome  and  for  Magnus.  The  soldiers  put  no  trust  in 
their  swords,  unless  the  whetted  points  struck 
fire  from  the  grindstone  ;  every  lance  too  was 
sharpened  against  the  stone,  bows  were  strung  with 
better  cords,  and  care  was  taken  to  fill  the  quivers 
with  picked  arrows.  The  horseman  enlarged  his 
spurs  and  tightened  the  straps  of  his  bridle.     Even 

379 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Si  liceat  superis  hominum  conferre  labores, 

Non  aliter  Phlegra  rabidos  tollente  gigantas  145 

Martius  incaluit  Siculis  incudibus  ensis, 

Et  rubuit  flammis  iterum  Neptunia  cuspis, 

Spiculaque  extenso  Paean  Pythone  recoxit, 

Pallas  Gorgoneos  difFudit  in  aegida  crines, 

Pallenaea  lovi  mutavit  fulmina  Cyclops.  150 

Non  tamen  abstinuit  venturos  prodere  casus 
Per  varias  Fortuna  notas.     Nam,  Thessala  rura 
Cum  peterent,  totus  venientibus  obstitit  aether 
Adversasque  faces  inmensoque  igne  columnas  155 

Et  trabibus  mixtis  avidos  typhonas  aquarum 
Detulit  atque  oculos  ingesto  fulgure  clausit ; 
Excussit  cristas  galeis  capulosque  solutis 
Perfudit  gladiis  ereptaque  pila  liquavit, 
Aetherioque  nocens  fumavit  sulpure  ferrum  ;  160 

Vixque  revolsa  solo  maiori  pondere  pressum 
Signiferi  mersere  caput  rorantia  fletu 
Usque  ad  Thessaliam  Romana  et  publica  signa. 
Admotus  superis  discussa  fugit  ab  ara  165 

Taurus  et  Emathios  praeceps  se  iecit  in  agros, 
Nullaque  funestis  inventa  est  victima  sacris. 
(At  tu,  quos  scelerum  superos,  quas  rite  vocasti 
Eumenidas,  Caesar  ?     Stygii  quae  numina  regni 
Infernumque  nefas  et  mersos  nocte  furores  170 

Inpia  tarn  saeve  gesturus  bella  litasti  ?) 
lam  (dubium,  monstrisne  deum  nimione  pavori 


^  Pallene  is  used  as  a  synonym  for  Phlegra. 
380 


BOOK   VII 

so,  if  it  is  permissible  to  compare  the  activity  of 
men  to  that  of  gods — even  so,  when  Phlegra  up- 
reared  the  furious  Giants,  the  sword  of  Mars  was 
heated  on  the  anvils  of  Etna  ;  the  trident  of  Neptune 
glowed  in  the  flame  a  second  time  ;  Apollo  smelted 
again  the  arrows  which  had  unwound  the  coils  of 
Python  ;  Pallas  scattered  the  Gorgon  tresses  over  all 
her  aegis  ;  and  the  Cyclopes  made  for  Jupiter  new 
thunderbolts  for  use  at  Pallene.^ 

Fortune,  however,  did  not  forbear  from  revealing 
the  future  by  means  of  divers  signs.  When  the 
army  made  for  Thessaly,  the  whole  sky  set  itself 
against  their  march  :  it  hurled  down  meteors  in 
their  faces,  and  huge  columns  of  fire,  and  whirlwinds 
that  suck  up  water,  together  with  fireballs  ;  it  dashed 
lightning  at  them  and  so  closed  their  eyes ;  it 
knocked  the  crests  off  their  helmets,  it  flooded  the 
scabbards  with  the  molten  blades,  it  tore  the  javelins 
from  their  grasp  and  fused  them  ;  and  the  guilty 
sword  smoked  with  the  sulphur  of  the  sky.  The 
standards  could  scarce  be  plucked  out  of  the  ground  ; 
their  increased  weight  bowed  down  the  head  of  the 
standard-bearer ;  and  they  shed  tears— -down  to  the 
time  of  Pharsalia  they  belonged  to  Rome  and  to 
the  State.  A  bull,  when  brought  forward  for  sacrifice, 
upset  the  altar  and  fled,  rushing  headlong  into  the 
fields  of  Thessaly ;  and  no  victim  was  forthcoming 
for  the  ill-omened  rite.  (But  Caesar — what  powers 
of  darkness,  what  fiends  did  he  invoke  without  let 
or  hindrance .''  what  deities  of  the  Stygian  realm, 
what  Horror  of  Hell,  and  Madness  shrouded  in 
gloom  ?  Though  he  was  soon  to  fight  an  infamous 
battle  with  such  cruelty,  his  prayer  was  heard.) 
Whether  men  were  convinced  by  divine  portents  or 

381 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Crediderint)  multis  concurrere  visus  Olympo 

Pindus  et  abruptis  mergi  convallibus  Haemus, 

Edere  nocturnas  belli  Pharsalia  voces,  176 

Ire  per  Ossaeam  rapid  us  Boebeida  sanguis ; 

Inque  vicem  voltus  tenebris  mirantur  opertos 

Et  pallere  diem  galeisque  incumbere  noctem 

Defunctosque  patres  et  iuncti^  sanguinis  umbras 

Ante  oculos  volitare  suos.     Sed  mentibus  unum  180 

Hoc  solamen  erat,  quod  voti  turba  nefandi 

Conscia,  quae  patrum  iugulos,  quae  pectora  fratrum 

Sperabat,  gaudet  monstris  mentisque  tumultum 

Atque  omen  scelerum  subitos  putat  esse  furores. 

Quid  mirum,  populos,  quos  lux  extrema  manebat,  185 
Lymphato  trepidasse  metu,  praesaga  malorum 
Si  data  mens  homini  est  ?     Tyriis  qui  Gadibus  hospes 
Adiacet  Armeniumque  bibit  Romanus  Araxen, 
Sub  quocumque  die,  quocumque  est  sidere  mundi, 
Maeret  et  ignorat  causas  animumque  dolentem  19U 

Corripit,  Emathiis  quid  perdat  nescius  arvis. 
Euganeo,  si  vera  fides  memorantibus,  augur 
Colle  sedens,  Aponus  terris  ubi  fumifer  exit 
Atque  Antenorei  dispergitur  unda  Timavi, 
"  Venit  summa  dies,  geritur  res  maxima,"  dixit  193 

"  Inpia  concurrunt  Pompei  et  Caesaris  arma," 
Seu  tonitrus  ac  tela  lovis  praesaga  notavit, 
Aethera  seu  totum  discordi  obsistere  caelo 

*  iuncti  Heinsi us  :  cuncti  (-is,  -&&)  MSS. 


^  Gains  Cornelius  was  the  augur,  and  the  place  was  Patavium 
(Padua).  This  case  of  telepathy  was  vouched  for  by  Livy, 
himself  a  native  of  Patavium  ;  see  Plutarch,  Caesar^  o.  47. 


3*1 


BOOK    VII 

their  own  excessive  terror,  who  can  tell  ?  But  many 
also  believed  that  they  saw  Pindus  collide  with 
Olympus,  and  the  Balkan  subside  in  precipitous 
hollows,  while  Pharsalia  sent  forth  the  din  of  battle 
by  night,  and  a  torrent  of  blood  spread  over  lake 
Boebeis  beside  Ossa.  Men  gaze  with  wonder  at 
each  other's  faces  veiled  with  darkness,  at  the 
dimness  of  the  light,  at  the  blackness  that  brooded 
over  the  helmets,  at  the  ghosts  that  moved  to  and 
fro  before  their  sight — ghosts  of  parents  dead  and 
of  kindred.  But  their  souls  had  this  one  solace  : 
the  host,  conscious  of  their  own  horrible  desire, 
and  hoping  to  pierce  a  father's  throat  or  a  brother's 
bosom,  took  pleasure  in  the  portents,  believing  that 
the  ferment  of  their  minds  and  their  sudden  madness 
boded  success  to  their  crimes. 

If  the  power  to  presage  misfortune  has  been 
granted  to  mankind,  what  wonder  that  those  whose 
last  day  was  at  hand  quaked  with  panic  fear? 
Whether  he  be  a  sojourner  by  Tyrian  Gades  or  drink 
of  the  Araxes  in  Armenia,  whatever  his  clime  and 
whatever  the  star  of  heaven  beneath  which  he  lives 
— every  Roman  grieves  and  knows  not  why  and 
chides  himself  for  his  sadness ;  for  he  knows  not 
what  loss  he  is  sufferini?  now  in  the  land  of  Thessaly. 
If  those  who  tell  the  tale  may  be  believed,  an  augur  ^ 
sat  that  day  on  the  Euganean  hills,  where  the 
smoking  spring  of  Aponus  issues  from  the  ground 
and  the  Timavus,  river  of  Antenor,  splits  into 
channels ;  and  he  cried :  "  The  decisive  day  has 
come  ;  the  great  battle  is  being  fought ;  the  armies 
of  Pompey  and  Caesar  meet  in  unnatural  conflict." 
Either  he  observed  the  thunder  and  the  warning 
bolts  of  Jupiter ;  or  he  saw  that  all  the  firmament 

383 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Perspexitque  polos^  seu  numen  in  aethere  maestum 

Solis  in  obscuro  pUgnam  pallore  notavit.  200 

Dissimilem  certe  cunctis  quos  explicat  egit 

Thessalicum  natura  diem  :  si  cuncta  perito 

Augure  mens  hominum  caeli  nova  signa  notasset, 

Spectari  toto  potuit  Pharsalia  mundo. 

O  summos  hominum^  quorum  fortuna  per  orbem         206 

Signa  dedit,  quorum  fatis  caelum  omne  vacavit ! 

Haec  et  apud  seras  gentes  populosque  nepotum, 

Sive  sua  tantum  venient  in  saecula  fama, 

Sive  aliquid  magnis  nostri  quoque  cura  laboris 

Nominibus  prodesse  potest,  cum  bella  legentur,  210 

Spesque  metusque  simul  perituraque  vota  movebunt, 

Attonitique  omnes  veluti  venientia  fata, 

Non  transmissa,  legent  et  adhuc  tibi,  Magne,  favebunt. 

Miles,  ut  adverso  Phoebi  radiatus  ab  ictu 
Descendens  totos  perfudit  lumine  colics,  216 

Noil  temere  inmissus  campis  :  stetit  ordine  certo 
Infelix  acies.     Cornus  tibi  cura  sinistri, 
Lentule,  cum  prima,  quae  tum  fuit  optima  bello, 
Et  quarta  legione  datur.     Tibi,  numine  pugnax 
Adverso  Domiti,  dextri  frons  tradita  Martis.  220 

At  medii  robur  belli  fortissima  densant 
Agmina,  quae  Cilicum  terris  deducta  tenebat 
Scipio,  miles  in  hoc,  Libyco  dux  primus  in  orbe. 
At  iuxta  fluvios  et  stagna  undantis  Enipei 
Cappadocum  montana  cohors  et  largus  habenae  225 


*  After  Pompey's  death. 


BOOK    VII  i/ 

and  the  poles  were  at  strife  with  the  warring 
sky  ;  or  else  the  sorrowing  deity  in  heaven  signified 
tiie  battle  by  the  dimness  and  obscurity  of  the  sun. 
At  least  it  is  certain  that  Nature  made  the  day  of 
Pliarsalia  pass  unlike  all  other  days  which  she 
reveals ;  if  hiunan  intelligence,  by  means  of  skilled 
augurs,  had  observed  all  the  strange  signs  in  heaven, 
then  the  battle  might  have  been  watched  all  the 
world  over.  How  great  were  these  men,  whose 
fortunes  were  advertised  over  the  whole  world,  and 
to  whose  destiny  all  heaven  was  attentive  !  Even 
in  later  ages  and  among  posterity,  these  events, 
whether  their  own  fame  alone  immortalises  them  or 
I  too,  by  my  pains  and  study,  can  do  some  service  to 
famous  men,  will  excite  hope  and  fear  together  and 
useless  prayers,  when  the  story  of  battle  is  read; 
and  all  men  will  be  spell-bound  as  they  read  the 
tragedy,  as  if  it  were  still  to  come  and  not  past ;  and 
all  will  still  take  sides  with  Magnus. 

When  the  soldiers  came  down,  lighted  up  by  the 
sunbeams  facing  them,  the  glitter  of  their  arms 
flooded  all  the  hills.  They  were  not  launched  at 
random  upon  the  plain :  the  doomed  army  was 
stationed  according  to  a  definite  plan.  Lentulus 
had  charge  of  the  left  wing  with  two  legions— the 
first,  which  was  then  the  most  fit  for  war,  and  the 
fourth  ;  the  right  wing  of  the  host  was  entrusted  to 
Domitius,  that  brave  but  ill-starred  warrior.  The 
main  strength  of  the  centre  was  in  the  close 
ranks  of  brave  men  whom  Scipio,  their  general,  had 
brought  from  Cilicia  ;  here  he  was  but  a  combatant 
but  was  yet  to  hold  the  chief  command  in  Africa,^ 
Then  by  the  channel  of  the  Enipeus  and  the  pools 
of  its  overflow  rode  tlie  horsemen  of  the  Cappadocian 

3&5 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ponticus  ibat  eques.     Sicci  sed  plurima  campi 

Tetrarchae  regesque  tenent  magnique  tyranni 

Atque  omnis  Latio  quae  servit  purpura  ferro. 

Illuc  et  Libye  Numidas  et  Creta  Cydonas 

Misitj  Ityraeis  cursus  fuit  inde  sagittis,  230 

Inde,  truce?  Galli,  solitum  prodistis  in  hostem, 

Illic  pugnaces  commovit  Hiberia  caetras. 

Eripe  victori  gentes  et  sanguine  raundi 

Fuso,  Magne,  semel  totos  consume  triumphos. 

Illo  forte  die  Caesar  statione  relicta  235 

Ad  segetum  raptus  moturus  signa  repente 
Conspicit  in  pianos  hostem  descendere  campos, 
Oblatumque  videt  votis  sibi  mille  petitum 
Tempus,  in  extremos  quo  mitteret  omnia  casus. 
Aeger  quippe  morae  flagransque  cupidine  regni  240 

Coeperat  exiguo  tractu  civilia  bella 
Ut  lentum  damnare  nefas.     Discrimina  postquam 
Adventare  ducum  supremaque  proelia  vidit, 
Casuram  et  fatis  sensit  nutare  ruinam. 
Ilia  quoque  in  ferrum  rabies  proraptissima  paulum     246 
Languit,  et  casus  audax  spondere  secundos 
Mens  stetit  in  dubio,  quam  nee  sua  fata  timere 
Nee  Magni  sperare  sinunt.     Formidine  mersa 
Prosilit  hortando  melior  fiducia  volgo, 
"  O  domitor  mundi,  rerum  fortuna  mearum,  260 

Miles,  adest  totiens  optatae  copia  pugnae. 

3^6 


BOOK  VII 

hills  and  the  riders  of  Pontus  with  loose  reins.  Of 
the  dry  ground  most  was  occupied  by  the  tetrarchs 
and  kings  and  mighty  potentates,  and  all  wearers 
of  the  purple  who  bow  before  the  Roman  steel. 
Thither  Libya  sent  Numidians,  and  Crete  her 
Cydonians ;  from  there  the  arrows  of  the  Ituraeans 
took  their  flight ;  from  there  the  fierce  Gauls  went 
forth  against  their  familiar  foe ;  and  there  the 
Spaniards  brandished  their  shields  for  battle.  Let 
Magnus  rob  the  conqueror  of  the  subject  i)eoples 
and  use  up  on  one  day  all  the  means  of  future 
triumphs  by  shedding  the  blood  of  all  mankind ! 

It  happened  on  that  day  that  Caesar  had  left  his 
position,  and  was  about  to  march  his  men  to  plunder 
the  cornfields,  when  suddenly  he  saw  his  enemy 
come  down  to  the  level  plains.  Before  him  lay  the 
opportunity  he  had  prayed  for  a  thousand  times — 
the  opportunity  of  staking  all  his  fortunes  on  a  final 
cast.  For  sick  of  delay  and  burrnng  with  desire  for 
a  regal  throne,  he  had  begun  to  loathe  the  short 
space  of  the  civil  war  as  a  crime  which  took  too  long 
in  the  doing.  But  when  he  saw  that  the  ordeal 
of  the  rivals  and  the  decisive  battle  was  drawing 
near,  and  when  he  perceived  that  the  crash  which 
fate  must  bring  was  nodding  to  its  fall,  even  that 
wild  desire  for  instant  slaughter  waxed  faint  for  a 
time ;  his  heart,  ever  ready  to  vouch  for  victory, 
hesitated  now  :  how  was  fear  possible,  when  he 
viewed  his  own  career?  how  was  hope,  when  he 
thought  of  Pompey's  .''  Fear  sank  down,  and  bold- 
ness sprang  forth — a  better  means  for  inspiriting 
his  men  :  "  Soldiers,  who  have  conquered  the  world, 
and  on  whom  my  destiny  depends,  behold  the  chance 
of  battle  you  have  so  often  prayed  for.     Prayer  is 

387 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nil  opus  est  votis,  iam  fatum  accersite  ferro. 
In  manibus  vestris,  quantus  sit  Caesar,  habetis. 
Haec  est  ilia  dies,  milii  quam  Rubiconis  ad  undas 
Promissam  memini,  cuius  spe  movimus  arma,  255 

In  quam  distulimus  vetitos  remeare  triumph os, 
Haec,  fato  quae  teste  probet,  quis  iustius  arma 
Sumpserit ;  haec  acies  victum  factura  nocentem  est.  260 
"Si  pro  me  patriam  ferro  flammisque  petistis, 
Nunc  pugnate  truces  gladioque  exsolvite  culpam : 
Nulla  manus,  belli  mutato  iudice,  pura  est.  " 
Non  mihi  res  agitur,  sed,  vos  ut  libera  sitis 
Turba,  precor  gentes  ut  ius  habeatis  in  omnes,  265 

Ipse  ego  privatae  cupidus  me  reddere  vitae 
Plebeiaque  toga  modicum  conponere  civem. 
Omnia  dum  vobis  liceant,  nihil  esse  recuso. 
Invidia  regnate  mea.     Nee  sanguine  multo 
Spem  mundi  petitis :  Grais  delecta  iuventus  270 

Gymnasiis  aderit  studioque  ignava  palaestrae 
Et  vix  arma  ferens,  aut  mixtae  dissona  turbae 
Barbaries,  non  ilia  tubas,  non  agmine  moto 
Clamorem  latura  suum.     Civilia  paucae 
Bella  man  us  facient;  pugnae  pars  magna  levabit        276 
His  orbem  populis  Romanumque  obteret  hostem. 
Ite  per  ignavas  gentes  famosaque  regna 
Et  primo  ferri  motu  prosternite  mundum, 
388 


BOOK   VII 

no  longer  needed  ;  with  your  swords  you  must  now 
summon  fate.  The  greatness  of  Caesar  is  yours 
to  determine.  That  day  has  come,  which,  as  I 
remember,  you  promised  me  by  the  waters  of  the 
Rubicon,  the  day  which  encouraged  us  to  take  up 
arms,  the  day  to  which  we  postponed  the  triumphant 
return  denied  us ;  and  this  day  must  decide,  on  the 
evidence  of  destiny,  which  of  the  two  combatants 
had  justice  on  his  side  :  this  battle  will  pronounce 
the  guilt  of  him  who  lose;s  it.  If  in  defence  of  me 
you  have  attacked  your  native  land  with  fire  and 
sword,  fight  fiercely  to-day  and  use  your  swords  to 
clear  your  guilt.  Not  one  of  you  has  guiltless  hands, 
if  I  be  no  longer  the  judge  of  war.  It  is  not  my 
fortunes  that  are  at  stake  :  my  prayer  is  for  you — 
that  you,  for  your  freedom's  sake,  may  bear  rule 
over  all  nations.  My  own  desire  is  to  return  to 
private  life,  to  wear  the  people's  dress,  and  to  play 
the  part  of  an  ordinary  citizen ;  but  provided  you 
are  all-powerful,  I  am  willing  to  accept  any  position ; 
yours  be  the  kingly  power,  mine  the  discredit! 
Nor  will  the  world  you  hope  to  win  cost  you  much 
bloodshed  :  you  will  meet  an  army  enlisted  from 
the  training-schools  of  Greece,  enfeebled  by  the 
practice  of  the  wrestling-ground,  and  scarce  able 
to  carry  the  weight  of  their  arms  ;  or  else  barbarians 
with  disordered  ranks  and  discordant  tongues,  who 
will  not  endure  the  sound  of  the  trumpet  or  even 
the  noise  of  their  own  march.  Few  of  you  will  lift 
their  hands  against  Romans  :  most  of  the  fighting 
will  rid  the  world  of  inferior  races  and  crush  under- 
foot the  enemies  of  Rome.  Make  your  way  through 
these  cowardly  nations  and  kingdoms  of  evil  fame ; 
lay  a  whole  world  low  with  the  first  stroke  of  the 

389 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Sitque  palam,  quas  tot  duxit  Pompeius  in  urbem 

Curribus,  unius  gentes  non  esse  triumphi.  280 

Armeniosne  movet,  Romana  potentia  cuius 

Sit  ducis  ?  aut  emptum  minimo  volt  sanguine  quisquam 

Barbarus  Hesperiis  Magnum  praeponere  rebus? 

Romanos  odere  omnes,  dominosque  gravantur, 

Quos  novere,  magis.     Sed  me  fortuna  meorum  286 

Commisit  manibus,  quarum  me  Gallia  testem 

Tot  fecit  bellis.     Cuius  non  militis  ensem 

Agnoscam?  caelumque  tremens  cum  lancea  transit, 

Dicel'e  non  fallar,  quo  sit  vibrata  lacerto. 

Quod  si,  signa  ducem  numquam  fallentia  vestrum,     290 

Conspicio  faciesque  truces  oculosque  minaces, 

Vicistis.     Videor  fluvios  spectare  cruoris 

Calcatosque  simul  reges  sparsumque  senatus 

Corpus  et  inmensa  populos  in  caede  natantes. 

Sed  mea  fata  moror,  qui  vos  in  tela  furentes  295 

Vocibus  his  teneo.     Veniam  date  bella  trahenti : 

Spe  trepido ;  baud  umquam  vidi  tam  magna  daturos 

Tam  prope  me  superos ;  camporum  limite  parvo 

Absumus  a  votis.     Ego  sum,  cui  Marte  peracto. 

Quae  populi  regesque  tenent,  donare  licebit.  300 

Quone  poli  motu,  quo  caeli  sidere  verso 

Thessalicae  tantum,  superi,  permittitis  orae? 

Aut  merces  hodie  bellorum  aut  poena  parata. 

Caesareas  spectate  cruces,  spectate  catenas 

Et  caput  iioc  positum  rostris  eiiusaque  membra  305 


390 


BOOK   VII 

steel ;  reveal  to  all  that  the  peoples  who  so  often 
followed  Pompey's  triumphal  car  to  Rome  are  not 
material  enough  for  even  a  single  triumph.  Do  the 
Armenians  care  which  among  rivals  has  power  at 
Rome  ?  Or  would  any  barbarian  give  a  drop  of  his 
blood  in  order  to  set  Magnus  over  Italy  ?  They 
hate  all  Romans  and  resent  their  domination  ;  but 
they  hate  most  the  Romans  they  know.  But  me 
Fortune  has  entrusted  to  the  hands  of  my  own 
soldiers  ;  and  full  many  a  war  in  Gaul  made  me 
the  witness  of  their  prowess.  I  shall  know  again 
the  sword  of  every  fighter  ;  and  when  the  lance  flies 
quivering  through  the  sky,  I  shall  make  no  mistake 
in  naming  the  arm  that  hurled  it.  But  if  I  see 
those  tokens  that  never  play  your  leader  false — fierce 
countenances  and  threatening  eyes — then  victory  is 
yours.  Methinks  I  see  rivers  of  blood,  kings  trodden 
under  foot  together,  mangled  bodies  of  senators, 
and  whole  nations  weltering  in  unlimited  carnage. 
But  I  delay  the  course  of  my  destiny,  when  these 
words  of  mine  detain  you — you  who  are  frantic  for 
the  fray.  Pardon  me  for  putting  off  the  battle ;  my 
hopes  unsettle  me ;  never  have  I  seen  the  gods  so 
near  me  and  ready  to  give  so  much ;  only  a  little 
strip  of  land  divides  us  from  all  we  pray  for.  I  am 
the  man,  who,  when  the  fighting  is  over,  will  have 
power  to  give  away  all  that  now  belongs  to  nations 
and  kings.  What  shift  has  taken  place  in  the  sky, 
what  star  in  heaven  has  suffered  change,  that  the 
gods  grant  such  a  privilege  to  Thessaly.''  To-day 
either  the  reward  or  the  penalty  of  war  is  before  us. 
Picture  to  yourselves  the  cross  and  the  chains  in 
store  for  Caesar,  my  head  stuck  upon  the  Rostrum 
and  my  limbs  unburied ;  think  of  the  crime  of  the 

391 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Saeptorumque  nefas  et  clausi  proelia  Campi. 

Cum  jduce  Sullano  gerimus  civilia  bella. 

Vestri   cura  movet ;  nam  me  secura  manebit 

Sors  quaesita  manu  :  fodientem  viscera  cernet 

Me  mea,  qui  nondum  victo  respexerit  hoste.  310 

Di,  quorum  curas  abduxit  ab  aethere  tellus 

Romanusque  labor,  vincat,  quicumque  necesse 

Non  putat  in  victos  saevum  destringere  ferrum 

Quique  suos  elves,  quod  signa  adversa  tulerunt, 

Non  credit  fecisse  nefas.      Pompeius  in  arto  315 

Agmina  vestra  loco  vetita  virtute  moveri 

Cum  tenuit,  quanto  satiavit  sanguine  ferrum ! 

Vos  tamen  hoc  oro,  iuvenes,  ne  caedere  quisquam 

Hostis  terga  velit :  civis,  qui  fugerit,  esto. 

Sed  dum  tela  micant,  non  vos  pietatis  imago  320 

Ulla  nee  adversa  conspecti  fronte  parentes 

Commoveant ;  voltus  gladio  turbate  verendos. 

Sive  quis  infesto  cognata  in  pectora  ferro 

Ibit,  seu  nullum  violarit  volnere  pignus, 

Ignoti  iugulum  tamquam  scelus  inputet  hostis.  325 

Sternite  iam  vallum  fossasque  inplete  ruina. 

Exeat  ut  plenis  acies  non  sparsa  maniplis. 

Pareite  ne  castris  :  vallo  tendetis  in  illo, 

Unde  acies  peritura  venit."     Vix  cuncta  locuto 

Caesare  quemque  suum  munus  trahit,  armaque  raptim  330 

Sumpta  Ceresque  viris.     Capiunt  praesagia  belli 

Calcatisque  ruunt  castris  ;  slant  ordine  nullo, 

^  The  Saepta  (enclosure),  called  Ovilia  (sheepfold)  in  ii.  197. 
was  in  the  Campus  Martins  ;  and  there  Sulla  butchered  6000 
prisoners  whom  he  had  promised  to  spare. 

2  He  refers  to  the  battle  described  in  vi.  290  foil. 

39,2 


BOOK   VII 

Saepta  and  the  battle  fought  in  the  enclosed 
Campus :  ^  the  general,  against  whom  we  carry  on 
civil  war,  is  Sulla's  pupil.  My  anxiety  is  for  you  ; 
I  shall  win  safety  for  myself  by  suicide  ;  if  any  man 
looks  back  before  the  foe  is  beaten,  he  will  see  me 
stabbing  my  own  vitala.  Ye  gods,  whose  attention 
has  been  drawn  away  from  heaven  by  the  agony 
of  Rome  on  earth,  give  victory  to  him  who  does 
not  feel  bound  to  draw  the  ruthless  sword  against 
beaten  men,  and  does  not  believe  that  his  fellow- 
citizens  committed  a  crime  by  fighting  against  him. 
When  Pompey  held  fast  your  ranks  in  a  narrow 
space  where  your  valour  had  no  power  to  move,  he 
glutted  his  sword  with  rivers  of  blood. ^  But  this  is 
my  prayer  to  you,  soldiers  :  none  of  you  must  smite 
a  foe  in  the  back,  and  every  fugitive  must  pass  for 
a  countryman.  But  while  their  weapons  glitter,  no 
thought  of  natural  affection,  no  sight  of  your  sires 
in  the  front  rank  of  the  foe,  must  weaken  your 
purpose ;  mangle  with  the  sword  the  faces  that 
demand  reverence.  If  any  man  smite  the  breast 
of  a  kinsman  with  ruthless  steel,  let  him  claim 
credit  for  his  crime  ;  or,  if  his  blow  does  violence  to 
no  tie  of  kinship,  still  let  him  claim  credit  for  the 
death  of  an  unknown  foe,  as  if  it  were  a  crime. 
Level  the  rampart  without  delay  and  fill  up  the 
trench  with  the  wreckage,  that  the  army  may  pass 
out  with  full  ranks  and  in  solid  formation.  Be  not 
careful  of  your  camp;  you  will  find  quarters  behind 
the  rampart  from  which  the  doomed  army  is  coming." 
Almost  before  Caesar  had  ceased  to  speak,  each 
went  to  his  appointed  task ;  in  haste  they  armed 
and  took  food.  Accepting  the  omen  of  victory, 
they   tread  down   the    fortifications   and    rush    on, 

393 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Arte  ducis  nulla  permittuntque  omnia  fatis. 
Si  totidem  Magni  soceros  totidemque  peteiites 
Urbis  regna  suae  funesto  in  Marte  locasses/  335 

Non  tam  praecipiti  ruerent  in  proelia  cursu. 
Vidit  ut  hostiles  in  rectum  exire  eatervas 
Pompeius  nullasque  moras  permittere  bello, 
Sed  superis  placuisse  diem,  stat  corde  gelato 
Attonitus  ;  tantoque  duel  sic  arma  timere  340 

Omen  erat.     Premit  inde  metus  totumque  per  agmen 
Sublimi  praevectus  equo^  ^^Quem  flagitat "  inquit 
"  Vestra  diem  virtus,  finis  civilibus  armis. 
Quern  quaesistis,  adest.     Totas  efFundite  vires ; 
Extremum  ferri  superest  opus,  unaque  gentes  345 

Hora  trahit.     Quisquis  patriam  carosque  penates, 
Qui  subolem  ac  thalamos  desertaque  pignora  quaerit, 
Ense  petat :  medio  posuit  deus  omnia  campo. 
Causa  iubet  melior  superos  sperare  secundos : 
Ipsi  tela  regent  per  viscera  Caesaris,  ipsi  350 

Romanas  sancire  volunt  hoc  sanguine  leges. 
Si  socero  dare  regna  meo  mundumque  pararent, 
Praecipitare  meam  fatis  potuere  senectam  : 
Non  iratorum  populis  urbique  deorum  est, 
Pompeium  servare  ducem.     Quae  vincere  possent,     356 
Omnia  contulimus.     Subiere  pericula  clari 
Sponte  viri  sacraque  antiquus  imagine  miles. 
Si  Curios  his  fata  darent  reducesque  Camillos 

*  locasses  Orotius :  locasset  M88, 

^  When  such  men  as  Curius  fought  in  the  ranks. 
394 


BOOK    VII 

with  no  ordered  ranks,  no  tactics  on  their  leader's 
part;  they  leave  all  to  destiny.  Had  each  man 
drawn  up  on  the  fatal  field  been  the  kinsman 
of  Magnus,  and  each  been  ambitious  to  reign  over 
his  country,  they  could  not  have  rushed  with  such 
headlong  speed  to  the  fray. 

When  Pompey  saw  the  hostile  army  sally  forth 
directly  opposite  him,  to  force  on  a  battle  without 
delay,  and  realised  that  this  was  the  day  fixed  by 
Heaven,  he  stood  appalled  with  frozen  blood ;  and 
to  so  great  a  general  it  was  an  evil  omen  that  he 
should  thus  dread  a  conflict.  But  soon  he  suppressed 
his  fears  and  rode  all  along  the  line  on  his  tall  war- 
horse.  ''  Behold  the  day,"  he  said,  "  which  your 
courage  demands ;  behold  the  welcome  end  of  the 
civil  war.  Put  forth  your  whole  strength  ;  there 
remains  but  one  last  effort  of  arms ;  a  single  hour 
is  dragging  all  nations  into  conflict.  If  any  man 
yearns  for  his  country  and  loved  home,  for  wife  and 
children  and  dear  ones  left  behind,  he  must  strike 
to  gain  them :  Heaven  has  set  all  the  prizes  in  the 
open  field.  Our  better  cause  bids  us  expect  the 
favour  of  the  gods :  they  themselves  will  guide  our 
weapons  through  Caesar's  heart,  they  themselves 
will  wish  to  ratify  the  Roman  constitution  by  his 
blood.  If  they  intended  to  give  my  kinsman  rule 
over  the  world,  it  was  in  their  power  to  hurry  this 
grey  head  into  tlie  grave ;  and,  since  they  have  pre- 
served my  life  to  command  the  army,  surely  they 
are  not  wrath  with  the  nations '  and  with  Rome. 
We  have  brought  together  all  that  could  make 
victory  secure.  Famous  men  have  volunteered  to 
face  the  danger;  and  our  army  has  the  august 
aspect  of  past  times.^     A  Curius  and  a  Camillus,  and 

395 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Temporibus  Deciosque  caput  fatale  voventes, 

Hinc  starent.     Primo  gentes  oriente  coactae  360 

Innumeraeque  urbes,  quantas  in  proelia  numquam, 

Excivere  manus.     Toto  simul  utimur  orbe. 

Quidquid  signiferi  conprensum  limite  caeli 

Sub  Noton  et  Borean  hominum  sumus,  arma  movemus. 

Nonne  superfusis  collectum  cornibus  hostem  365 

In  medium  dabimus?  paucas  victoria  dextras 

Exigit ;  at  plures  tantum  clamore  catervae 

Bella  gerent :  Caesar  nostris  non  sufficit  armis. 

Credite  pendentes  e  summis  moenibus  urbis 

Crinibus  effusis  hortari  in  proelia  matres ;  370 

Credite  grandaevum  vetitumque  aetate  senatum 

Arma  sequi  sacros  pedibus  prosternere  canos, 

Atque  ipsam  domini  metuentem  occurrere  Romam ; 

Credite,  qui  nunc  est  populus  populumque  futurum 

Permixtas  adferre  preces  :  haec  libera  nasci,  376 

Haec  volt  turba  mori.     Si  quis  post  pignora  tanta 

Pompeio  locus  est,  cum  prole  et  coniuge  supplex. 

Imperii  salva  si  maiestate  liceret, 

Volverer  ante  pedes.     Magnus,  nisi  vincitis,  exul, 

Ludibrium  soceri,  vester  pudor,  ultima  fata  380 

Deprecor  ac  turpes  extremi  cardinis  annos, 

Ne  discam  servire  senex."     Tam  maesta  locuti 

Voce  ducis  flagrant  animi,  Romanaque  virtus 

Erigitur,  placuitque  mori,  si  vera  timeret. 


^  The  inhabitants  of  the  northera  hemisphere,  from  the 
tropic  of  Cancer  to  the  Arctic  circle,  are  meant  by  this 
description  :  see  Housman  p  329. 


396 


BOOK   VII 

the  Decii  who  devoted  their  lives  to  death,  if  destiny 
restored  them  to  our  age  and  brought  them  back  to 
earth,  would  stand  on  our  side.  The  nations  of  the 
far  East  and  countless  cities  have  gathered  together, 
and  summoned  to  battle  such  hordes  as  were  never 
seen  before  ;  the  whole  world  is  at  our  disposal  at 
one  time.  Our  force  includes  every  man,  up  to 
the  verge  of  South  and  North,  who  lives  enclosed 
within  the  bound  of  the  Zodiac.  ^  Shall  we  not  shut 
in  the  whole  hostile  army,  outflanking  them  with 
our  wings  ?  Victory  requires  but  a  handful  of  com- 
batants :  shouting  is  the  only  service  that  most  of 
our  squadrons  will  perform  :  Caesar's  force  is  too 
small  for  ours  to  deal  with.  Imagine  that  the 
matrons  of  Rome  are  hanging  over  the  topmost  walls 
of  the  city  with  dishevelled  hair,  and  urging  you  to 
battle ;  imagine  that  aged  senators,  whose  years 
prevent  them  from  following  the  camp,  lay  at  your 
feet  their  venerable  grey  hairs,  and  that  Rome  herself, 
in  her  fear  of  a  master,  comes  to  meet  you.  Imagine 
that  both  generations,  the  present  and  the  future, 
address  their  joint  entreaties  to  you  :  the  one  would 
fain  be  born,  and  the  other  die,  in  freedom.  If 
after  such  solemn  appeals  there  is  room  for  my  own 
name,  then,  together  with  my  wife  and  sons,  on  my 
knees  I  would  grovel  at  your  feet,  if  I  could  do 
it  without  sullying  the  dignity  of  my  command. 
Unless  you  conquer,  I,  Magnus,  am  an  exile,  scorned 
by  my  kinsman  and  a  disgrace  to  you,  and  I  pray  to 
escape  that  utmost  misery  —  shame  in  the  closing 
years  of  life,  and  learning  in  old  age  to  bear  the  yoke." 
Thus  mournful  was  his  speech  ;  and  his  voice 
kindled  bheir  courage  till  Roman  valour  rose  high  ; 
and  they  resolved  to  die,  if  his  fears  proved  true. 

397 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Ergo  utrimque  pari  procurrunt  agmina  motu  385 

Irarum ;  metus  hos  regni,  spes  excitat  illos. 
Hae  facient  dextrae,  quidqiiid  nona  ^  explicat  aetas, 
Ut  vacet  a  ferro.     Gentes  Mars  iste  futuras 
Obruet  et  populos  aevi  venientis  in  orbem  390 

Erepto  natale  feret.     Tunc  omne  Latinum 
Fabula  nomen  erit ;  Gabios  Veiosque  Coramque 
Pulvere  vix  tectae  poterunt  monstrare  ruinae 
Albanosque  lares  Lauren tinosque  penates, 
Rus  vacuum,  quod  non  habitet  nisi  nocte  coacta  395 

Invitus  questusque  Numam  iussisse  senator. 
Non  aetas  haec  carpsit  edax  monimentaque  rerum 
Putria  destituit :  crimen  civile  videmus 
Tot  vacuas  urbes.     Generis  quo  turba  redacta  est 
Humani !  toto  populi  qui  nascimur  orbe  400 

Nee  muros  inplere  viris  nee  possumus  agros ; 
Urbs  nos  una  capit.     Vincto  fossore  coluntur 
Hesperiae  segetes,  stat  tectis  putris  avitis 
In  nuUos  ruitura  domus,  nulloque  frequenteni 
Give  suo  Romam  sed  mundi  faece  repletam  405 

Cladis  eo  dedimus,  ne  tanto  in  corpore  bellum 
lam  possit  civile  geri.      Pharsalia  tanti 
Causa  mali.     Cedant,  feralia  nomina,  Cannae 
Et  damnata  diu  Romanis  Allia  fastis. 
Tempora  signavit  leviorum  Roma  malorum,  410 

Hunc  voluit  nescire  diem.     Pro  tristia  fata! 
Aera  pestiferum  tractu  morbosque  fluentes 

*  nona  Housman  :  non  MSS. 


*  Lucan  lived  in  the  ninth  century  from  the  foundation  of 
Rome.  The  lack  of  men  in  that  age  was  due,  he  says,  to  the 
slaughter  of  Pharsalia. 


BOOK    VII 

Therefore  the  armies  rushed  forward,  each  inspired 
with  tile  same  passionate  ardour,  the  one  eager  to 
escape  a  tyranny,  the  other  to  gain  it.  These  hands 
will  bring  it  to  pass  that,  whatever  the  ninth 
century  ^  unfolds,  it  shall  be  free  from  warfare.  This 
battle  will  destroy  nations  yet  unborn  ;  it  will  deprive 
of  their  birthtime  and  sweep  away  the  men  of  the 
generation  coming  into  the  world.  Then  all  the 
Latin  race  will  be  a  legend  ;  dust-covered  ruins  will 
scarce  be  able  to  indicate  the  site  of  Gabii  and  Veii 
and  Cora,  the  houses  of  Alba  and  the  dwellings  of 
Laurentum — a  depopulated  country,  where  no  man 
I  dwells  except  the  senators  who  are  forced  to  spend 
one  night  there  by  Numa's  law  which  they  resent.^ 
It  is  not  the  tooth  of  time  that  has  wrought  this 
destruction  and  consigned  to  decay  the  memorials  of 
the  past :  in  all  these  uninhabited  cities  we  see  the 
guilt  of  civil  war.  How  far  reduced  are  the  numbers 
of  the  human  race  !  All  the  people  born  on  earth 
cannot  supply  inhabitants  for  town  or  country ;  a 
single  city  contains  us  all.  The  corn-fields  of  Italy 
are  tilled  by  chained  labourers  ;  the  ancient  roof-tree 
is  rotten  and  ready  to  fall,  but  none  dwell  beneath  it ; 
Rome  is  not  peopled  by  her  own  citizens  but  swarms 
with  the  refuse  of  mankind,  and  we  have  sunk  her  so 
low,  that  civil  war,  for  all  her  many  inmates,  is 
no  longer  possible.  Pharsalia  is  the  cause  of  so 
^great  a  mischief.  The  fatal  names  of  Cannae  and  of 
Allia,  cursed  long  ago  by  the  Roman  Calendar,  must 
give  place  to  Pharsalia.  Rome  has  marked  the  date 
of  lighter  calamities,  but  has  decided  to  ignore  this 
day.     O  cruel   destiny !     Air   fatal    to    inhale,  and 

'  The  Roman  consuls  had  to  be  present  at  Alba  for  the 
celebration  of  the  Latin  Festival. 

399 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Insanamque  famem  permissasque  ignibus  urbes 

Moeniaque  in  praeceps  laturos  plena  tremores 

Hi  possent  explere  viri,  quos  undique  traxit  415 

In  miseram  Fortuna  necem,  dum  munera  longi 

Explicat  eripiens  aevi,  populosque  ducesque 

Constituit  campis,  per  quos  tibi,  Roma,  ruenti 

Ostendat,  quam  magna  cadas.     Quae  latins  orbem 

Possedit,  citius  per  prospera  fata  cucurrit  ?  420 

Omne  tibi  bellum  gentes  dedit,  omnibus  annis 

Te  geminum  Titan  procedere  vidit  in  axem ; 

Haud  miiltum  terrae  spatium  restabat  Eoae, 

Ut  til)i  nox,  tibi  tota  dies,  tibi  curreret  aether, 

Omniaque  errantes  stellae  Romana  viderent.  425 

Sed  retro  tua  fata  tulit  par  omnibus  annis 

Emathiae  funesta  dies.      Hac  luce  cruenta 

Effeetum,  ut  Latios  non  horreat  India  fasces. 

Nee  vetitos  errare  Dahas  in  moenia  ducat 

Sarmaticumque  premat  succinctus  consul  aratrum,     430 

Quod  semper  saevas  debet  tibi  Parthia  poenas. 

Quod  fugiens  civile  nefas  redituraque  numquam 

Libertas  ultra  Tigrim  Rhenumque  recessit 

Ac,  totiens  nobis  iugulo  quaesita,  vagatur, 

Germanum  Scythicumque  bonum,  nee  respicit  ultra  435 

Ausoniam,  vellem,  populis  incognita  nostris. 

Volturis  ut  primum  laevo  fundata  volatu 

Romulus  infami  conplevit  moenia  luco. 

Usque  ad  Thessalicas  servisses,  Roma,  ruinas. 

De  Brutis,  Fortuna,  queror.     Quid  tempora  legum     440 


^  In  ancient  times  it  was  the  business  of  the  consul  to  trace 
out  with  the  plough  the  limits  of  a  colony  planted  in  a  con- 
quered country.  The  Dahae  were  nomads  who  wandered  over 
the  plains  to  the  E.  of  the  Caspian. 

'  He  refers  to  the  Brutus  who  expelled  the  Tarquins. 

400 


' 


BOOK   VII 

epidemic  disease ;  maddening  famine,  cities  consigned 
to  the  flames,  and  earthquakes  that  could  bring  to 
ruin  populous  cities— all  these  might  be  glutted  by 
the  men  whom  Fortune  drew  from  every  quarter  to 
premature  death,  snatching  away  the  gifts  of  long 
ages  even  while  she  displayed  them,  and  arraying 
nations  and  chiefs  upon  the  battle-field  ;  by  them 
she  wished  to  show  to  collapsing  Rome,  what  great- 
ness fell  with  her.  What  city  ever  possessed  a 
wider  empire,  or  ran  more  quickly  from  success  to 
success  ?  Each  war  added  nations  to  Rome  ;  each  year 
the  sun  saw  her  move  forward  towards  either  pole  ;  a 
small  part  of  the  East  excepted,  night,  and  day  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  all  the  sky  revolved  for 
Rome,  and  the  stars  in  their  courses  saw  nothing 
that  was  not  hers.  But  the  fatal  day  of  Pharsalia 
reversed  her  destiny  and  undid  the  work  of  all  the 
past.  Thanks  to  that  bloody  field,  India  dreads  not 
the  Roman  rods,  no  Roman  consul  arrests  the  nomad 
Dahae  and  makes  them  dwell  in  cities,  or  leans  on 
the  plough  ^  in  Sarmatia  with  his  robe  looped  up ;  it 
is  owing  to  Pharsalia  that  Parthia  still  owes  us 
stern  retribution,  and  that  Freedom,  banished  by 
civil  war,  has  retreated  beyond  the  Tigris  and  the 
Rhine,  never  to  return  ;  often  as  we  have  wooed  her 
with  our  life-blood,  she  wanders  afar,  a  blessing 
enjoyed  by  Germans  and  Scythians,  and  never  turns 
an  eye  on  Italy :  would  that  our  nation  had  never 
known  her  I  Ever  since  Romulus  founded  his  city 
by  the  flight  of  a  vulture  on  the  left,  and  peopled  it 
with  the  criminals  of  the  Asylum,  down  to  the 
catastrophe  of  Pharsalia,  Rome  ought  to  have 
remained  in  slavery.  I  have  a  grudge  against 
Fortune  on  the  score  of  the  Bruti.^     Why  did  we 

401 

VOL.    I.  o 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Egimus  aut  annos  a  consule  nomen  habentes  ? 

Felices  Arabes  Medique  Eoaque  tellus, 

Quam  sub  perpetuis  tenuerunt  fata  tyrannis. 

Ex  populis  qui  regna  ferunt  sors  ultima  nostra  est, 

Quos  servire  pudet.     Sunt  nobis  nulla  pro  fee  to  445 

Numina :  cum  caeco  rapiantur  saecula  casu. 

Mentimur  regnare  lovem.     Spectabit  ab  alio 

Aethere  Thessalicas,  teneat  cum  fulmina,  caedes  ? 

Scilicet  ipse  petet  Pholoen,  petet  ignibus  Oeten 

Inmeritaeque  nemus  Rhodopes  pinusque  Mimantis,   450 

Cassius  hoc  potius  feriet  caput?     Astra  Thyestae 

Intulit  et  subitis  damnavit  noctibus  Argos  : 

Tot  similes  fratrum  gladios  patrumque  gerenti 

Thessaliae  dabit  ille  diem  ?  mortalia  nuUi 

Sunt  curata  deo.     Cladis  tamen  huius  habemus  455 

Vindictam,  quantam  terris  dare  numina  fas  est : 

Bella  pares  superis  facient  civilia  divos ; 

Fulminibus  manes  radiisque  ornabit  et  astris 

Inque  deum  templis  iurabit  Roma  per  umbras. 

Ut  rapid o  cursu  fati  suprema  morantem  460 

Consumpsere  locum,  parva  tellure  dirempti, 
Quo  sua  pila  cadant  aut  quam  sibi  fata  minentur 
inde  manum,  spectant.     Vultus,  quo  noscere  posseiit 
Facturi  quae  monstra  forent,  videre  parentum  ^ 
Frontibus  adversis  fraternaque  comminus  arma,  465 

Nee  libuit  rautare  locum.     Tamen  omnia  torpor 

*  parentum  Housinan :  parentes  MSS, 
403 


¥ 


BOOK   VII 

enjoy  a  period  of  lawful  government,  or  years  named 
after  the  consuls?  Fortunate  are  the  Arabs  and 
Medes  and  Eastern  nations,  whom  destiny  has  kept 
continuously  under  tyrants.  Of  all  the  nations  that 
endure  tyranny  our  lot  is  the  worst,  because  we 
blush  for  our  slavery.  In  very  truth  there  are  no 
gods  who  govern  mankind :  though  we  say  falsely 
that  Jupiter  reigns,  blind  chance  sweeps  the  world 
along.  Shall  Jupiter,  though  he  grasps  the  thunder- 
bolt, look  on  idly  from  high  heaven  at  the  slaughter 
of  Pharsalia  ?  Shall  he  forsooth  aim  his  fires  at 
Pholoe  and  Oeta,  at  the  pines  of  Mimas  and  the 
innocent  forest  of  Rhodope,  and  shall  Cassius,  rather 
than  he,  strike  Caesar  down  ?  He  brought  night  upon 
Thyestes  and  doomed  Argos  to  premature  darkness ; 
will  he  then  grant  daylight  to  Pharsalia  that  sees 
the  guilt  as  great,  of  so  many  swords  wielded  by 
brothers  and  fathers  ?  Man's  destiny  has  never 
been  watched  over  by  any  god.  Yet  for  this  disaster 
we  have  revenge,  so  far  as  gods  may  give  satisfaction 
to  mortals :  civil  war  shall  make  dead  Caesars  the 
peers  of  gods  above ;  and  Rome  shall  deck  out  dead 
men  with  thunderbolts  and  haloes  and  constellations, 
and  in  the  temples  of  the  gods  shall  swear  by 
ghosts. 

When  they  had  traversed  at  speed  the  ground 
that  delayed  the  fiat  of  destiny,  and  were  parted 
only  by  a  little  space,  each  looked  to  see  where  his 
own  javelin  would  light,  or  whose  hand  on  the  other 
side  destiny  threatened  to  use  against  him.  That 
they  might  learn  what  horrors  they  were  about  to 
commit,  they  saw  their  fathers'  faces  over  against 
them  and  their  brothers'  weapons  close  beside  them ; 
hut  they  cared  not  to  shift  their  ground.     Never- 

40/^ 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pectora  constrinxit,  gelidusque  in  viscera  sanguis 

Percussa  pietate  coit,  totaeque  cohortes 

Pila  parata  diu  tensis  tenuere  lacertis. 

Di  tibi  non  mortem,  quae  cunctis  poena  paratur,         470 

Sed  sensum  post  fata  tuae  dent,  Crastine,  morti, 

Cuius  torta  manu  commisit  lancea  bellum 

Primaque  Tiiessaliam  Romano  sanguine  tinxit, 

O  praeceps  rabies  !  cum  Caesar  tela  teneret, 

Inventa  est  prior  ulla  manus  ?     Tum  stridulus  aer      475 

Elisus  lituis  conceptaque  classica  cornu. 

Tunc  ansae  dare  signa  tubae,  tunc  aethera  tendit 

Extremique  fragor  convexa  inrumpit  Olympi, 

Unde  procul  nubes,  quo  nulla  tonitrua  durant. 

Excepit  resonis  clamorem  vallibus  Haemus  480 

Peliacisque  dedit  rursus  geminare  cavemis ; 

Pindus  agit  fremitus,  Pangaeaque  saxa  resultant, 

Oetaeaeque  gemunt  rupes,  vocesque  furoris 

Expavere  sui  tota  tellure  relatas. 

Spargitur  innumerum  diversis  missile  votis :  485 

Volnera  pars  optat,  pars  terrae  figere  tela 

Ac  puras  servare  manus.     Rapit  omnia  casus, 

Atque  incerta  facit  quos  volt  fortuna  nocentes.  483 

Tunc  et  Ityraei  Medique  Arabesque  soluti,  614 

Arcu  turba  minax,  nusquam  rexere  sagittas, 

Sed  petitur  solus  qui  campis  inminet  aer. 

Inde  cadunt  mortes.     Sceleris  sed  crimine  nullo 

Externum  maculant  chalybem  ;  stetit  omne  coactum 

Circa  pila  nefas.     Ferro  subtexitur  aether, 


^  Crastinus  is  a  historical  person ;  he  fell  in  the  battle. 
404 


BOOK    VII 

theless^  a  numbness  froze  eacli  bosom  and  the  blood 
gathered  cold  at  each  lieart,  from  the  shock  to 
natural  affection  ;  and  whole  companies  long  held 
their  javelins  in  rest  with  rigid  muscles.  Heaven 
punish  Crastinus !  ^  and  not  with  death  alone,  for 
that  is  a  punishment  in  store  for  all  mankind 
alike ;  but  may  his  body  after  death  keep  the  power 
to  feel,  because  a  lance  that  his  hand  brandished 
began  the  battle  and  first  stained  Pharsalia  with 
Roman  blood.  What  headlong  frenzy!  When 
Caesar  grasped  weapons,  was  any  hand  found  to 
anticipate  his  ?  Then  a  strident  blast  broke  from 
the  trumpets,  and  the  war-note  was  sounded  by  the 
horn ;  then  the  clarions  dared  to  give  the  signal ; 
then  the  uproar  mounted  skyward  and  assailed  the 
dome  of  furthest  Olympus — Olympus,  from  which 
the  clouds  keep  far  away,  and  whither  no  thunders 
reach.  The  Balkan  took  up  the  noise  in  its  echoing 
valleys  and  gave  it  to  the  caves  of  Pelium  to  repeat ; 
Pindus  roared,  the  Pangaean  rocks  echoed,  and  the 
cliffs  of  Oeta  bellowed,  till  the  armies  were  terrified 
by  the  sound  of  their  own  madness  repeated  from  all 
the  earth.  Countless  javelins  were  hurled,  but  with 
different  desires :  some  pray  to  deal  wounds,  and 
others  to  bury  their  points  in  the  ground  and  keep 
their  hands  unstained ;  but  chance  and  haste  are 
supreme,  and  random  Fortune  makes  whom  she  will 
guilty.  Next,  the  Ituraeans  and  Medes  and 
free  Arabs,  formidable  archers,  shot  their  arrows 
at  no  mark,  aiming  only  at  the  sky  overhead  ;  and 
from  the  sky  death  came  down  ;  but  the  archers 
stained  their  foreign  steel  with  no  guilt  —  all 
the  weight  of  wickedness  was  confined  to  the 
Roman  javelins.     The  air  was  veiled  with  steel,  and 

405 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Noxque  super  campos  telis  conserta  pependit.  620 

Seel  quota  pars  cladis  iaculis  ferroque  volanti  489 

Exacta  est !  odiis  solus  civilibus  ensis  490 

Sufficit,  et  dextras  Romana  in  viscera  ducit. 

Pompei  densis  acies  stipata  catervis 

lunxerat  in  seriem  nexis  umbonibus  arma, 

Vixque  habitura  locum  dextras  ac  tela  movendi 

Constiterat  gladiosque  suos  conpressa  timebat.  495 

Praecipiti  cursu  vaesanum  Caesaris  agmen 

In  densos  agitur  cuneos,  perque  arma,  per  hostem 

Quaerit  iter.     Qua  torta  graves  lorica  catenas 

Opponit  tutoque  latet  sub  tegmine  pectus, 

Hac  quoque  perventum  est  ad  viscera,  totque  per  arma  500 

Extremum  est,  quod  quisque  ferit.     Civilia  bella 

Una  acies  patitur,  gerit  altera  ;  frigidus  inde 

Stat  gladius,  calet  omne  nocens  a  Caesare  ferrum. 

Nee  Fortuna  diu  rerum  tot  pondera  vertens 

Abstulit  ingentes  fato  torrente  ruinas.  606 

Ut  priraum  toto  diduxit  cornua  campo 
Pompeianus  eques  bellique  per  ultima  fudit, 
Sparsa  per  extremos  levis  armatura  maniplos 
Insequitur  saevasque  manus  inmittit  in  hostem : 
lUic  quaeque  suo  miscet  gens  proelia  telo  ;  610 

Romanus  cunctis  petitur  cruor ;  inde  sagittae, 
Inde  faces  et  saxa  volant  spatioque  solutae 
Aeris  et  calido  liquefactae  pondere  glandes ;  613 

Cum  Caesar,  metueus  ne  frons  sibi  prima  labaret         621 


406 


BOOK   VII 

darkness  made  by  interlacing  missiles  hung  over  the 
plain.  But  not  much  of  the  slaughter  was  wrought 
by  the  flying  steel  of  the  javelins  :  the  sword  alone  can 
gratify  the  hate  of  civil  war,  and  leads  the  hand  to 
the  hearts  of  Romans.  Pompey's  soldiers,  closely 
packed  in  serried  ranks,  had  joined  their  shields^ 
boss  against  boss,  to  form  an  unbroken  line  ;  they 
scarce  had  room,  as  they  stood,  to  ply  their  hands 
and  weapons,  and  their  close  order  made  their 
swords  a  danger  to  themselves.  With  headlong 
speed  and  fury  Caesar's  men  charged  the  close- 
packed  columns,  forcing  a  way  through  shields  and 
through  soldiers.  Where  the  plaited  breastplate 
presents  its  heavy  rings  and  the  breast  is  concealed 
under  the  protection  of  the  cuirass,  even  there  the 
heart  was  reached,  and  what  lies  beneath  all  the 
armour  is  the  mark  of  every  thrust.  One  army 
endures,  and  the  other  inflicts,  civil  warfare :  on 
Pompey's  side  the  swords  are  cold  and  idle,  but 
every  guilty  blade  on  Caesar's  side  is  hot.  And 
Fortune,  taking  little  time  to  work  such  a  mighty 
reversal,  swept  away  the  vast  wreck  with  the  flood 
of  doom. 

When  Pompey's  cavalry  drew  their  wings  apart 
over  the  whole  plain  and  extended  them  beyond  the 
flanks  of  the  fighters,  at  once  his  light-armed 
troops  in  loose  order  pressed  on  through  the  outmost 
ranks  and  launched  fierce  hordes  against  Caesar's 
troops.  There  each  people  engaged  witli  its  native 
weapon,  but  all  alike  sought  Roman  blood ;  they 
discharge  volleys  of  arrows,  firebrands  and  stones, 
and  bullets,  melted  by  passing  through  the  air  and 
fused  by  their  heated  weight.  But  Caesar,  fearing 
that  his  front  line  might  be  shaken  by  their  attack, 

407 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Incursu,  tenet  obliquas  post  sigiia  cohortes 

Inque  latus  belli,  qua  se  vagus  hostis  agebat, 

Emittit  subitum  non  motis  coriiibus  agmen. 

Inmemores  pugnae  nulloque  pudore  timendi  625 

Praecipites  feeere  palam,  civilia  bella 

Non  bene  barbaricis  umquam  commissa  catervis. 

Ut  primus  sonipes  transfixus  pectora  ferro 

In  caput  efFusi  calcavit  membra  regentis, 

Omnis  eques  cessit  campis,  glomerataque  nubes  630 

In  sua  conversis  praeceps  ruit  agmina  frenis. 

Perdidit  inde  modum  caedes,  ac  nulla  secuta  est 

Pugna,  sed  hinc  iugulis,  hinc  ferro  bella  geruntur; 

Nee  valet  haee  acies  tantum  prosternere,  quantum 

Inde  perire  potest.      Utinam,  Pharsalia,  campis  635 

Sufficiat  cruor  iste  tuis,  quern  barbara  fundunt 

Pectora,  non  alio  mutentur  sanguine  fontes ; 

Hie  numerus  totos  tibi  vestiat  ossibus  agros. 

Aut  si  Romano  conpleri  sanguine  mavis, 

Istis  parce,  precor ;  vivant  Galataeque  Syrique,  540 

Cappadoces  Gallique  extremique  orbis  Hiberi, 

Armenii,  Cilices ;  nam  post  civilia  bella 

Hie  populus  Romanus  erit.     Semel  ortus  in  omnes 

It  timor,  et  fatis  datus  est  pro  Caesare  cursus. 

Ventum  erat  ad  robur  Magni  mediasque  catervas.  546 
Quod  totos  errore  vago  perfuderat  agros, 
Constitit  hie  bellum  fortunaque  Caesaris  haesit. 
Non  illic  regum  auxiliis  collecta  iuventus 
Bella  gerit,  ferrumque  manus  movere  rogatae ; 
Ille  locus  fratres  habuit^  locus  ille  parentes.  660 

408 


BOOK    VII 

moved  the  cohorts  which  he  kept  at  an  angle 
to  his  front  behind  the  standards,  and  suddenly  sent 
them  forward,  while  the  wings  stood  still,  to  that 
part  of  the  field  where  the  enemy  was  fighting  in 
disorder.  Forgett  ul  of  battle,  unashamed  of  coward- 
ice, the  cavalry  fled  headlong,  proving  that  it  is 
never  safe  to  trust  civil  warfare  to  barbaric  hordes. 
When  the  first  charger,  stabbed  in  the  chest,  threw 
his  rider  headlong  and  trampled  on  his  body,  all  the 
horsemen  fled  from  the  field  :  turning  their  horses 
round,  they  rushed  furiously  in  a  dense  cloud  against 
their  own  ranks.  Unlimited  slaughter  followed  : 
there  was  no  battle,  but  only  steel  on  one  side  and 
throats  to  pierce  on  the  other.  The  one  army 
cannot  lay  low  all  of  the  other  that  can  be  slain. 
IVould  that  the  blood  shed  by  foreign  breasts  could 
content  the  plain  of  Pharsalia,  that  her  springs 
could  be  dyed  with  no  gore  but  theirs,  that  their 
numbers  could  clothe  all  her  fields  with  skeletons  ! 
Or,  if  she  prefers  to  be  glutted  with  Roman  blood, 
then  let  her  spare  the  lives  of  these — Galatians  and 
Syrians,  Cappadocians  and  Gauls  and  remotest 
Iberians,  Armenians  and  Cilicians ;  for  after  the 
civil  war  these  will  be  the  Roman  people.  Panic, 
when  once  it  began,  spread  to  all ;  and  free  course 
was  given  to  destiny  in  Caesar's  favour. 

It  was  now  the  turn  of  Pompey's  centre,  where 
his  main  strength  lay.  The  fight  which  had  ranged 
at  random  all  over  the  field  was  concentrated  here, 
and  Caesar's  fortune  received  a  check.  The  men 
who  fought  here  and  plied  their  weapons  were  not 
brought  from  many  quarters  or  borrowed  by  aid  of 
the  kings  :  here  stood  the  brothers  and  fathers  of 
the  slayers.     This  place   comprised   the   rage   and 

4«>9 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Hie  furor,  hie  rabies,  hie  sunt  tua  erimina,  Caesar. 

Hanc  fuge,  mens,  partem  belli  tenebrisque  relinque, 

Nullaque  tantorum  diseat  me  vate  malorum, 

Quam  multum  bellis  liceat  civilibus,  aetas. 

A  potius  pereant  lacrimae  pereantque  querellae  :        555 

Quidquid  in  hac  acie  gessisti,  Roma,  tacebo. 

Hie  Caesar,  rabies  populis  stimulusque  furorum, 

Ne  qua  parte  sui  pereat  scelus,  agmina  circum 

It  vagus  atque  ignes  animis  flagrantibus  addit. 

Inspicit  et  gladios,  qui  toti  sanguine  manent,  560 

Qui  niteant  primo  tantum  mucrone  cruenti, 

Quae  presso  tremat  ense  manus,  quis  languida  tela, 

Quis  Gontenta  ferat,  quis  praestet  bella  iubenti, 

Quem  pugnare  iuvet,  quis  voltum  cive  perempto 

Mutet ;  obit  latis  proiecta  cadavera  campis  ;  665 

Volnera  multorum  totum  fusura  cruorem 

Opposita  premit  ipse  manu.     Quacumque  vagatur, 

Sanguineum  veluti  quatiens  Bellona  flagellum, 

Bistonas  aut  Mavors  agitans,  si  verbere  saevo 

Palladia  stimulet  turbatos  aegide  currus,  570 

Nox  ingens  scelerum  est ;  caedes  oriuntur,  et  instar 

Inmensae  vocis  gemitus,  et  pondere  lapsi 

Pectoris  arma  sonant  confractique  ensibus  enses. 

Ipse  manu  subicit  gladios  ac  tela  ministrat 

Adversosque  iubet  ferro  confundere  voltus.  675 

Promovet  ipse  acies,  inpellit  terga  suorum, 

Verbere  conversae  cessantes  excitat  hastae, 

In  plebem  vetat  ire  manus  monstratque  senatum ; 


y  Lucan  makes  this  promise  and  then  proceeds  to  break  it. 

2  Mars  is  supposed  to  be  urging  on  his  Thraeians  against 
some  tribe,  whom  Pallas,  armed  with  her  shield  (the  aegis),  is 
assisting. 

410 


BOOK    VII 

madness  and  wickedness  of  Caesar.  Let  my  pen 
turn  away  from  this  phase  of  the  war  and  leave  it  to 
darkness  ;  I  refuse  to  tell  such  horrors,  and  no  age 
shall  learn  from  me  the  full  licence  of  civil  war. 
Rather  let  our  tears  be  shed  in  vain,  and  our  com- 
plaints be  uttered  in  vain  :  of  the  part  that  Rome 
played  in  this  battle  I  shall  say  nothing.^  Here 
Caesar,  maddening  the  men  and  stirring  up  their 
frenzy,  moved  to  and  fro  round  the  ranks  and  added 
fuel  to  the  fire  of  their  passion,  in  order  that 
wickedness  might  not  anywhere  be  wrought  in  vain  : 
his  eye  marks  whether  their  blades  stream  with 
blood  from  point  to  hilt,  or  glitter  still  with  only 
the  points  reddened ;  whose  hand  trembles  as  it 
grasps  the  sword  ;  whose  arm  is  slack  and  whose 
braced ;  who  merely  obeys  the  order  to  fight,  and 
who  delights  in  it;  and  who  changes  countenance 
when  he  has  slain  a  countryman.  He  visits  the 
corpses  that  sprawl  on  the  wide  plain  ;  with  his  own 
hand  he  staunches  the  wound  that  would  otherwise 
pour  out  all  the  blood  of  many  a  man.  Wherever 
he  moves,  like  Bellona  brandishing  her  bloody 
scourge,  or  like  Mars  urging  on  the  Bistones,  when 
with  fierce  blows  he  lashes  on  his  steeds  terrified  by 
the  aegis  of  Pallas,^  a  mighty  darkness  of  crime  and 
slaughter  arises,  and  a  groaning  like  one  great  cry, 
and  a  rattle  of  the  breastplate  when  a  man  falls 
heavily,  and  a  snapping  of  blade  against  blade.  His 
hand  supplies  fresh  swords  and  provides  missiles  ; 
his  voice  bids  them  hack  with  the  steel  the  faces  of 
the  foe.  In  person  he  advances  the  fighting  line 
and  urges  on  his  rearguard  ;  he  rouses  the  laggards 
with  blows  from  the  butt-end  of  his  spear.  Bidding 
them  spare  those  of  low  degree,  he  points  out  the 

411 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Scit,  cruor  imperii  qui  sit,  quae  viscera  rerum, 

Uiide  petat  Romam,  libertas  ultima  mundi  680 

Quo  steterit  ferienda  loco.      Permixta  secundo 

Ordine  nobilitas  venerandaque  corpora  ferro 

Urguentur ;  caedunt  Lepidos  caeduntque  Metellos 

Corvinosque  simul  Torquataque  nomina,  rerum 

Saepe  duces  summosque  hominum  te,  Magne,  remote.  586 

Illic  plebeia  contectus  casside  voltus 

Ignotusque  hosti,  quod  ferrum,  Brute,  tenebas ! 

O  decus  imperii,  spes  o  suprema  senatus, 

Extremum  tanti  generis  per  saecula  nomen, 

Ne  rue  per  medios  nimium  temerarius  hostes,  690 

Nee  tibi  fatales  admoveris  ante  Philippos, 

Thessalia  periture  tua.     Nil  proficis  istic 

Caesaris  intentus  iugulo  :  nondum  attigit  arcem. 

Juris  et  humani  columen,  quo  cuncta  premuutur, 

Egressus  meruit  fatis  tam  nobile  letum,  695 

Vivat  et,  ut  Bruti  procumbat  victima,  regnet. 

Hie  patriae  perit  omne  decus  :  iacet  aggere  magno 
Patricium  campis  non  mixta  plebe  cadaver. 
Mors  taraen  eminuit  clarorum  in  strage  virorura 
Pugnacis  Domiti,  quem  clades  fata  per  omnes  600 

Ducebant :  nusquam  Magni  ibrtuna  sine  illo 
Succubuit.     Victus  totiens  a  Caesare  salva 
Libertate  perit ;  tunc  mille  in  volnera  laetus 
Labitur  ac  venia  gaudet  caruisse  secunda. 
Viderat  in  crasso  versantem  sanguine  membra  605 

^  Brutus  fought  in  the  battle,  and  we  are  told  by  Plutarch 
that  Caesar,  on  learning  that  he  had  surviv^ed,  was  relieved 
from  great  anxiety  ;  but  this  story,  that  Brutus  disguised 
himself  as  a  common  soldier  in  order  to  stab  Caesar  on  the 
field,  is  a  mere  invention  of  Lucan's. 

2  For  the  identification  of  Pharsalia  and  Philippi,  see  n. 
to  i.  680. 

412 


BOOK   VII 

senators.  For  he  knows  where  the  blood  of  the 
empire  runs,  the  pulse  of  the  machine  ;  he  knows  in 
what  quarter  Rome  must  be  struck,  and  the  vulner- 
able points  of  Liberty  now  making  her  last  stand  on 
earth.  Senators  mixed  with  kniglits  are  borne 
down  by  the  steel,  and  noble  corpses  lie  low  ;  they 
slay  Lepidi  and  Metelli,  they  slay  Corvini  together 
with  the  stock  of  Torquatus — often  leaders  of  the 
State,  and  raised  above  all  men,  Magnus  alone 
excepted.  But  what  did  Brutus  ^  there,  sword  in 
hand  and  hiding  his  face  from  the  foe  in  the  disguise 
of  a  common  soldier's  helmet  .'*  O  glory  of  Rome,  last 
hope  of  the  Senate  and  last  scion  of  a  house  famous 
throughout  our  history,  rush  not  too  rashly  through 
the  midst  of  the  enemy,  nor  seek  to  anticipate  tiie 
doom  of  Philippi :  death  will  come  to  you  in  a 
Pharsalia^  of  your  own.  Your  design  against 
Caesar's  life  is  bootless  here :  not  yet  has  he  attained 
the  tyrant's  stronghold  ;  not  yet  has  he  risen  beyond 
the  lawful  summit  of  human  greatness  tliat  dwarfs  all 
other  things  ;  and  therefore  he  has  not  earned  from 
destiny  so  glorious  a  death.  Let  him  live  to  reign ; 
and  then  let  him  fall  a  victim  to  the  dagger  of  Brutus. 
All  the  glory  of  our  country  fell  there :  the 
corpses  of  the  patricians  lay  in  a  great  heap  upon 
the  field,  with  no  plebeians  among  them.  Yet  one 
death  was  most  noticeable  in  that  carnage  of  famous 
men — the  death  of  that  stubborn  warrior,  Domitius. 
Fate  led  him  from  defeat  to  defeat ;  never  was  he 
absent  when  Pompey's  cause  was  worsted.  Though 
conquered  so  often  by  Caesar,  he  died  without  losing 
his  freedom.  Now  he  fell  gladly  under  a  thousand 
wounds,  and  rejoiced  not  to  be  pardoned  a  second 
time.     Caesar  saw  him  weltering  in  a  pool  of  blood 

413 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Caesar,  et  increpitans  "  lam  Magni  deseris  arma, 

Successor  Domiti ;  sine  te  iam  bella  geruntur  " 

Dixerat.     Ast  illi  suffecit  pectora  pulsans 

Spiritus  in  vocem  morientiaque  ora  resolvit: 

"  Non  te  funesta  scelerum  mercede  potitum,  610 

Sed  dubium  fati,  Caesar,  generoque  minorem 

Aspiciens  Stygias  Magno  duce  liber  ad  umbras 

Et  securus  eo ;  te  saevo  Marte  subactum 

Pompeioque  graves  poenas  nobisque  daturum. 

Cum  moriar,  sperare  licet."     Non  plura  locutura        616 

Vita  fugit,  densaeque  oculos  pressere  tenebrae. 

Inp^ndisse  pudet  lacrimas  in  funere  mundi 
Mortibus  innumeris,  ac  singula  fata  sequentera 
Quaerere,  letiferum  per  cuius  viscera  volnus 
Exierit,  quis  fusa  solo  vitalia  calcet^  620 

Ore  quis  adverso  demissum  faucibus  ensem 
Expulerit  moriens  anima,  quis  corruat  ictus, 
Quis  steterit,  dum  membra  cadunt,  qui  pectore  tela 
Transmittant,  aut  quos  campis  adfixerit  hasta, 
Quis  cruor  emissis  perruperit  aera  venis  626 

Inque  hostis  cadat  arma  sui,  quis  pectora  fratris 
Caedat  et,  ut  notum  possit  spoliare  cadaver, 
Abscisum  longe  mittat  caput,  ora  parentis 
Quis  laceret  nimiaque  probet  spectantibus  ira, 
Quem  iugulat, non  esse  patrem.    Mors  nulla  querella  630 
Digna  sua  est,  nullosque  hominum  lugere  vacamus.  , 

Non  istas  habuit  pugnae  Pharsalia  partes,  I 

^  Domitius  liad  been  chosen  by  the  Senate  to  succeed  Caesar 
in  GauL 

414 


BOOK   VII 

and  taunted  him  thus :  "  Domitius,  inheritor  of  my 
province/  you  are  now  deserting  Pompey's  cause ; 
you  have  no  part  henceforward  in  the  war."  Thus 
he  spoke;  and  the  breath  that  heaved  the  other's 
breast  was  enougli  for  speech,  and  he  opened  his 
dying  hps  :  "  Caesar,  you  have  not  grasped  the  fatal 
reward  of  your  guilt :  your  fate  remains  uncertain  and 
you  are  inferior  to  your  son-in-law  ;  and  seeing  your 
plight,  I  go  free  and  untroubled  to  the  Stygian 
shades,  and  Pompey  is  still  my  leader.  Though  I 
die,  I  still  can  hope  that  you,  borne  down  in  fierce 
battle,  will  pay  a  heavy  reckoning  to  Pompey  and  to 
me."  Before  he  could  say  more,  life  left  him  and 
thick  darkness  closed  his  eyes. 

Where  a  whole  world  died,  it  were  shame  to  spend 
tears  upon  any  of  a  myriad  deaths,  or  to  follow  the  fate 
of  individuals  and  ask,  through  whose  vitals  the  death- 
dealing  sword  passed,  who  trod  upon  his  own  entrails 
poured  out  upon  the  ground,  who  faced  the  foe  and 
dying  drove  out  with  his  last  gasp  the  blade  buried  in 
his  throat.  Some  fell  to  earth  when  stricken  ;  others 
stood  upright  while  their  arms  were  lopped  off;  the 
weapon  passed  right  through  the  breasts  of  some, 
while  others  were  pinned  to  the  ground  by  the 
spear ;  the  blood  of  some,  pouring  from  the  veins, 
spouted  through  the  air  and  fell  on  the  armour  of 
their  foes ;  one  man  pierced  a  brother's  breast,  and 
then  cut  off  the  head  and  hurled  it  to  a  distance, 
that  he  might  be  able  to  rob  the  kindred  corpse, 
while  another  mangled  his  father's  face  and  tried 
by  excess  of  fury  to  convince  the  eye-witnesses  that 
his  victim  was  not  his  father.  But  no  death  deserves 
a  lament  to  itself,  and  we  have  no  leisure  to  mourn 
any  individual.     Pharsalia  played  a  different  part  in 

415 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quas  aliae  clades  :  illic  per  fata  virorum, 
Per  populos  hie  Roma  peril ;  quod  militis  illic, 
Mors  hie  gentis  erat ;  sanguis  ibi  fluxit  Achaeus,        635 
Ponticus,  Assyrius ;  eunctos  liaerere  cruores 
Romanus  campisque  vetat  consistere  torrens. 
Maius  ab  hac  acie  quam  quod  sua  saeeula  ferrent 
Volnus  habent  populi ;  plus  est  quam  vita  salusque 
Quod  perit :  in  totum  mundi  prosternimur  aevum.     640 
Vincitur  his  gladiis  omnis  quae  serviet  aetas. 
Proxima  quid  suboles  aut  quid  meruere  nepotes 
In  regnum  nasci?  pavide  num  gessimus  arma 
Teximus  aut  iugulos  ?  alieni  poena  timoris 
In  nostra  cervice  sedet.     Post  proelia  natis  646 

Si  dominum,  Fortuna,  dabas,  et  bella  dedisses. 
lam  Magnus  transisse  deos  Romanaque  fata 
Senserat  infelix^  tota  vix  clade  coactus 
Fortunam  damnare  suam.     Stetit  aggere  campi, 
Eminus  unde  omnes  sparsas  per  Thessala  rura  660 

Aspiceret  clades,  quae  bello  obstante  latebant. 
Tot  telis  sua  fata  peti,  tot  corpora  fusa 
Ac  se  tam  multo  pereuntem  sanguine  vidit. 
Nee,  sicut  mos  est  miseris,  trahere  omnia  secum 
Mersa  iuvat  gentesque  suae  miscere  ruinae :  666 

Ut  Latiae  post  se  vivat  pars  maxima  turbae, 
Sustinuit  dignos  etiamnunc  credere  votis 
Caelicolas  vovitque,  sui  solacia  casus. 
416 


BOOK   VII 

battle  from  all  other  defeats :  in  them  Rome  suffered 
by  the  death  of  men,  but  here  she  was  destroyed  by 
the  death  of  nations ;  a  people  died  here,  for 
every  soldier  there ;  here  tlie  blood  of  Achaea, 
Pontus,  and  Assyria  was  poured  out,  and  all  that 
bloodshed  the  torrent  of  Roman  gore  forbids  to 
linger  and  stagnate  on  the  field.  A  blow  too  heavy 
for  their  own  age  to  bear  was  dealt  to  all  nations  by 
this  battle :  more  was  lost  there  than  mere  life  and 
existence :  we  were  overthrown  for  all  time  to 
come ;  all  future  generations  doomed  to  slavery 
were  conquered  by  those  swords.  For  what  fault 
of  their  own  were  the  sons  or  grandsons  of  the 
combatants  at  Pharsalia  born  to  slavery.'*  Did  we 
play  the  coward  in  battle  or  screen  our  throats  from 
the  sword  ?  The  penalty  of  cowardice  not  our  own 
is  fastened  upon  our  necks.  To  us,  born  after  that 
battle.  Fortune  gave  a  master;  she  should  have 
given  us  also  the  chance  to  fight  for  freedom. 

By  now  Magnus,  unhappy  man,  was  aware  that 
Heaven  and  the  destiny  of  Rome  had  gone  over  to 
the  enemy,  though  the  full  extent  of  the  disaster 
could  scarce  compel  him  to  despair  of  his  fortunes. 
Far  off*  on  a  rising  ground  he  stayed,  to  see  from 
there  the  carnage  spread  through  the  land  of 
Thessaly,  which  the  battle  had  hidden  from  his 
sight ;  he  saw  all  the  missiles  aimed  at  his  life,  and 
all  the  prostrate  corpses ;  he  saw  himself  dying  with 
all  that  bloodshed.  But  he  desired  not,  as  the 
wretched  often  do,  to  draw  all  things  in  destruc- 
tion after  him  and  make  mankind  share  his  ruin. 
Deigning  to  consider  Heaven  even  yet  worthy  of  his 
prayers,  he  consoled  himself  in  calamity  by  praying 
that  the  most  of  the  Romans  might  survive  him. 

417 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

"  Parcite,"  ait  "superi,  cunctas  prosternere  genres. 
Stante  potest  mundo  Komaque  superstite  Magnus     660 
Esse  miser.     Si  plura  iuvant  mea  volnera,  coniunx 
Est  mihi,  sunt  nati ;  dedimus  tot  pignora  fatis. 
Civiline  parum  est  bello,  si  meque  meosque 
Obruit  ?  exiguae  clades  sumus  orbe  remoto  ? 
Omnia  quid  laceras  ?  quid  perdere  cuncta  laboras  ?     665 
lam  nihil  est,  Fortuna,  meum."     Sic  fatur  et  arma 
Signaque  et  adflictas  omni  iam  parte  catervas 
Circumit  et  revocat  matura  in  fata  ruentes 
Seque  negat  tanti.     Nee  derat  robur  in  enses 
Ire  duci  iuguloque  pati  vel  pectore  letum ;  670 

Sed  timuit,  strato  miles  ne  corpore  Magni 
Non  fugeret,  supraque  ducem  procumberet  orbis ; 
Caesaris  aut  oculis  voluit  subducere  mortem. 
Nequiquam,  infelix  :  socero  spectare  volenti 
Praestandum  est   ubicumque  caput.     Sed   tu   quoque, 

coniunx,     676 
Causa  fugae  voltusque  tui  fatisque  negatum 
Parte  absente  ^  mori.     Turn  Magnum  concitus  aufert 
A  bello  sonipes  non  tergo  tela  paventem 
Ingentesque  animos  extrema  in  fata  ferentem. 
Non  gemitus,  non  fletus  erat,  salvaque  verendus         680 
Maiestate  dolor,  qualem  te,  Magne,  decebat 
Romanis  praestare  malis.      Non  inpare  voltu 
Aspicis  Emathiam :  nee  te  videre  superbum 
Prospera  bellorum  nee  fractum  adversa  videbunt ; 
Quamque  fuit  laeto  per  tres  infida  triumphos  685 

^  I'arte  absente  Housman :  Te  praesente  M8S. 
418 


BOOK    VII 

"Stop  here,  ye  gods,"  he  said,  "^and  refrain  from 
destroying  all  nations.  The  world  may  remain  and 
Rome  survive,  though  Magnus  is  doomed.  If  you 
desire  to  add  to  my  afflictions,  I  have  a  wife,  I  have 
sons ;  all  these  hostages  have  I  given  to  fortune. 
Is  civil  war  still  unsatisfied,  if  it  destroy  me  and 
mine?  Is  our  overthrow  not  enough,  unless  the 
world  be  added?  Why  does  Fortune  mangle  all 
things  and  seek  universal  destruction  ?  Nothing 
is  left  now  of  my  own."  Thus  he  spoke,  and 
rode  round  his  army  and  the  standards  and  the 
troops  now  shattered  on  every  hand,  recalling  them 
from  rushing  upon  instant  death,  and  saying  that  he 
was  not  worth  the  sacrifice.  He  lacked  not  the 
courage  to  confront  the  swords  and  offer  throat  or 
breast  to  the  fatal  blow ;  but  he  feared  that,  if  he 
lay  low,  his  soldiers  would  refuse  to  flee  and  the 
whole  world  would  be  laid  upon  the  body  of  their 
leader;  or  else  he  wished  to  remove  his  death  from 
Caesar's  sight.  Vain  hope,  alas !  If  his  kinsman 
desires  to  look  upon  that  head,  it  must  be  presented 
to  him  in  any  and  every  land.  And  there  was 
another  cause  for  his  flight — his  wife  and  her  loved 
face,  and  the  decree  of  fate  that  he  should  not  die 
with  part  of  himself  absent.  Then  Magnus  rode 
swiftly  from  the  field,  fearing  not  the  missiles  behind 
him  but  moving  with  high  courage  to  his  final  doom. 
There  was  no  lamentation  nor  tears — only  a  noble 
sorrow  with  no  loss  of  dignity,  such  a  sorrow  as  the 
calamities  of  Rome  deserved  to  receive  from  Magnus. 
With  countenance  unchanged  he  beholds  Pharsalia; 
victory  never  saw  him  lifted  up,  and  defeat  shall 
never  see  him  cast  down  ;  and  treacherous  Fortune, 
who  found  him  her  superior  at  the  time  of  his  three 

419 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tarn  misero  Fortuna  minor.     lam  pondere  fati 

Deposito  securus  abis  ;  nunc  tempora  laeta 

Respexisse  vacat ;  spes  numquam  inplenda  recessit ; 

Quid  fueriSj  nunc  scire  licet.     Fuge  proelia  dira 

Ac  testare  deos  nullum,  qui  perstet  in  armis,  690 

lam  tibi,  Magne,  mori.     Ceu  flebilis  Africa  damnis 

Et  ceu  Munda  nocens  Pharioque  a  gurgite  clades. 

Sic  et  Thessalicae  post  te  pars  maxima  pugnae 

Non  lam  Pompei  nomen  populare  per  orbem 

Nee  studium  belli,  sed  par  quod  semper  habemus,      695 

Libertas  et  Caesar  erit ;  teque  inde  fugato 

Ostendit  moriens  sibi  se  pugnasse  senatus. 

Nonne  iuvat  pulsum  bellis  cessisse  nee  istud 
Perspectasse  nefas?  spumantes  caede  catervas 
Respice,  turbatos  incursu  sanguinis  amnes,  700 

Et  soceri  miserere  tui.     Quo  pectore  Romam 
Intrabit  factus  campis  felicior  istis? 
Quidquid  in  ignotis  solus  regionibus  exul, 
Quidquid  sub  Phario  positus  patiere  tyranno, 
Crede  deis,  longo  fatorum  crede  favori,  706 

Vincere  peius  erat.     Prohibe  lamenta  sonare, 
Flere  veta  populos,  lacrimas  luctusque  remitte. 
Tarn  mala  Pompei  quam  prospera  mundus  adoret. 
Aspice  securus  voltu  non  supplice  reges, 
Aspice  possessas  urbes  donataque  regna,  710 

Aegypton  Libyamque,  et  terras  elige  morti. 
420 


BOOK   VII 

triumphs,  is  as  far  beneath  him  now  in  his  fall.  He 
goes  away  free  from  care,  having  laid  down  the 
burden  Fate  put  upon  him ;  now  he  has  leisure  to 
look  back  at  past  happiness ;  and  hope,  never  to  be 
fulfilled,  has  departed  ;  now  he  can  realise  what  once 
he  was.  Let  him  flee  from  the  fatal  field,  and  call 
Heaven  to  witness  that  those  who  continue  the  fight 
are  no  longer  giving  their  lives  for  Pompey.  Like 
the  woeful  losses  in  Africa,  like  guilty  Munda  and 
the  slaughter  by  the  Nile,  so  most  of  the  fighting  at 
Pharsalia,  after  Pompey's  departure,  ceased  to  repre- 
sent the  world's  love  of  Pompey  or  the  passion  for 
war  :  it  was  tlie  never-ending  contest  between  Free- 
dom and  Empire ;  and  when  Pompey  had  fled  from 
Pharsalia,  the  senators  proved  by  dying  that  they 
had  fougiit  in  their  own  quarrel. 

Is  it  not  happiness  to  you,  Pompey,  to  have  with- 
drawn defeated  from  the  battle,  without  witnessing 
that  horror  to  its  close  ?  Look  back  on  the  ranks 
reeking  with  carnage,  and  the  rivers  darkened  by 
the  inrush  of  blood,  and  then  pity  your  kinsman. 
With  what  feelings  will  he  enter  Home,  owing  his 
good  fortune  to  yonder  field  ?  Whatever  you  have 
yet  to  endure,  as  a  lonely  exile  in  strange  lands  or 
at  the  mercy  of  the  Egyptian  king,  take  the  word  of 
Heaven  and  Fortune  so  long  favourable :  victory 
was  worse  than  defeat.  Forbid  the  sound  of  lamenta- 
tion and  stop  the  mourning  of  mankind ;  forgo  their 
tears  and  grief.  The  world  must  bow  before  Pompey 
in  his  misfortune  as  they  bowed  before  his  success. 
Calmly  and  with  no  petitionary  aspect  look  upon  the 
kings,  look  upon  the  cities  you  took  and  the  thrones 
of  Egypt  and  Africa  which  you  gave,  and  choose  a 
land  to  die  in. 

421 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Vidit  prima  tuae  testis  Larisa  ruinae 
Nobile  nee  victum  fatis  caput.     Omnibus  ilia 
Civibus  efFudit  totas  per  moenia  vires 
Obvia  ceu  laeto  :  promittunt  munera  flentes,  715 

Pandunt  templa,  domos,  socios  se  cladibus  optant. 
Scilicet  inmenso  superest  ex  nomine  multum, 
Teque  minor  solo  cunctas  inpellere  gentes 
Rursus  in  arma  potes  rursusque  in  fata  redire. 
Sed  "  quid  opus  victo  populis  aut  urbibus  ?  "  inquit    720 
"  Victori  praestate  fidem."     Tu,  Caesar,  in  alto 
Caedis  adhuc  cumulo  patriae  per  viscera  vadis. 
At  tibi  iam  populos  donat  gener.     Avehit  inde 
Pompeium  sonipes ;  gemitus  lacrimaeque  secuntur 
Plurimaque  in  saevos  populi  convicia  divos.  725 

Nunc  tibi  vera  fides  quaesiti,  Magne,  favoris 
Contigit  ac  fructus :  felix  se  nescit  amari. 

Caesar,  ut  Hesperio  vidit  satis  arva  natare 
Sanguine,  parcendum  ferro  manibusque  suorum 
lam  ratus  ut  viles  animas  perituraque  frustra  730 

Agmina  permisit  vitae.     Sed  castra  fugatos 
Ne  revocent  pellatque  quies  nocturna  pavorem, 
Protinus  hostili  statuit  succedere  vallo, 
Dum  fortuna  calet,  dum  conficit  omnia  terror, 
Non  veritus,  grave  ne  fessis  aut  f  Marte  subactisj  ^     736 
Hoc  foret  imperium.     Non  magno  hortamine  miles 
In  praedam  ducendus  erat.     "  Victoria  nobis 
Plena,  viri,"  dixit  "  superest  pro  sanguine  merces, 

1  The  words  obelised  must  be  corrupt :  they  could  only  mean 
**or  conquered  in  war." 

422 


BOOK    VII 

Larisa  was  the  first  witness  of  his  fallen  greatness — 
the  first  to  behold  that  noble  head  unconquered  by 
disaster.  She  poured  out  all  her  population  through 
her  gates,  and  met  him  like  a  conqueror  with  all  her 
inhabitants ;  with  tears  they  promise  gifts,  they 
open  their  temples  and  houses,  they  pray  to  share 
his  defeat.    In  truth  much  remains  of  that  boundless 

.fame;   with  no  superior  except  his  former  self,  he 

^^  might  again  rouse  all  nations  to  battle  and  resume 
his  victorious  course.     But  he  refused  :  "  What  need 

i-has  a  conquered  man  of  nations  or  cities  ?  Offer 
your  loyalty  to  the  conqueror."  While  Caesar  is 
still  treading  on  corpses  piled  high  and  marching 
over  the  very  life  of  his  country,  he  receives  from 
his  kinsman  nations  as  a  gift.  When  Pompey  rode 
away  from  Larisa,  the  cries  and  tears  of  the  people 
followed    him,   and   many   a   reproach   against   the 

«  cruelty  of  Fleaven.  That  day  gave  proof  to  Pompey 
of  the  favour  he  had  gained,  and  gave  him  enjoyment 
of  it :  the  prosperous  are  never  sure  that  they  are 
loved  for  themselves. 

When  Caesar  saw  that  the  fields  were  flooded  deep 
enough  with    Italian  blood,  he  thought  it  time  to 

.  restrain  the  sword  in  the  hands  of  his  soldiers,  and 
suffered  to  survive  the  worthless  lives  by  whose 
death  he  had  nothing  to  gain.  But  fearing  that 
their  camp  would  rally  the  fugitives,  and  that  a 
night's  rest  would  dispel  their  fears,  he  decided  to 
march  at  once  up  to  the  enemy's  rampart,  and  to 
strike  while  the  iron  was  hot  and  panic  irresistible. 

^  He  felt  no  fear  that  this  command  would  be  grievous 
to  his  weary  veterans.  The  soldiers  needed  but 
little  encouragement  to  lead  them  to  plunder.  "  Our 
victory  is  complete,  my  men,"  he  said ;    "  all  that 

423 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Quam  monstrare  meura  est ;  neque  enim  donare  vocabo, 

Quod  sibi  quisque  dabit.     Cunctis  en  plena  metallis  740 

Castra  patent ;  raptum  Hesperiis  e  gentibus  aurum 

Hie  iacet,  Eoasque  preraunt  tentoria  gazas. 

Tot  regum  fortuna  simul  Magnique  coacta 

Expectat  dominos  :  propera  praecedere^  miles, 

Quos  sequeris  ;  quascumque  tuas  Pharsalia  fecit         746 

A  victis  rapiuntur  opes."     Quae  fossa,  quis  agger 

Sustineat  jn-etium  belli  scelerumque  petentes?  760 

Scire  vuunt,  quanta  fuerint  mercede  nocentes. 

Invenere  quidem  spoliato  plurima  mundo 

Bellorum  in  sumptus  congestae  pondera  massae  ; 

Sed  non  inplevit  cupientes  omnia  mentes. 

Quidquid  fodit  Hiber,  quidquid  Tagus  expuit  auri,     765 

Quod  legit  dives  summis  Arimaspus  harenis, 

Ut  rapiant,  parvo  scelus  hoc  venisse  putabunt. 

Cum  sibi  Tarpeias  victor  despondent  arces. 

Cum  spe  Romanae  promiserit  omnia  praedae, 

Decipitur,  quod  castra  rapit.     Capit  inpia  plebes         760 

Caespite  patricio  somnos,  stratumque  cubile 

Regibus  infandus  miles  premit,  inque  parentum 

Inque  toris  fratrum  posuerunt  membra  nocentes. 

Quos  agitat  vaesana  quies,  somnique  furentes 

Thessalicam  miseris  versant  in  pectore  pugnam.  765 

Invigilat  cunctis  saevum  scelus,  armaque  tota 

Mente  agitant,  capuloque  manus  absente  moventur. 

424 


BOOK   VII 

remains  is  the  reward  for  our  blood;  and  that  re- 
ward it  is  for  me  to  point  out — I  shall  not  speak  of 
bestowing  what  each  of  you  will  give  to  himself. 
Before  you  lies  their  camp,  filled  with  all  precious 
metals :  the  gold  robbed  from  the  Western  nations 
is  piled  there,  and  their  tents  are  crammed  with  the 
treasures  of  the  East.  The  wealth  of  so  many  kings 
and  the  wealth  of  Magnus  are  here  gathered  together, 
waiting  for  owners.  Make  haste  to  outstrip  the 
fugitives ;  all  the  riches  that  Pharsalia  has  made 
yours  are  being  seized  by  the  vanquished."  What 
trench,  what  rampart,  could  withstand  men  who 
sought  the  reward  of  victory  and  crime?  They  are 
wild  to  know  what  the  wages  of  their  wickedness 
amount  to.  They  found  indeed  many  a  mass  of 
metal,  collected  from  a  plundered  world  to  defray 
the  cost  of  war ;  but  these  could  not  glut  their 
boundless  avarice.  Even  if  they  seized  all  the  gold 
mined  by  Spaniards  or  thrown  up  by  the  Tagus  or 
gathered  from  the  surface  of  the  sand  by  rich  Ari- 
maspians,  still  they  would  consider  their  crime  poorly 
paid.  They  counted  on  the  Tarpeian  citadel  as  their 
own  in  case  of  victory;  they  had  promised  their 
utmost  to  their  leader  in  hope  of  sacking  Rome ; 
and  they  are  disappointed  by  the  pillage  of  a  mere 
camp.  Base-born  and  bloodstained,  they  slept  on 
the  turf  piled  for  patricians  ;  the  infamous  rank  and 
file  lay  down  on  couches  prepared  for  kings ;  and 
the  guilty  rested  their  limbs  where  their  fathers 
and  brothers  had  slept.  But  a  night  of  madness 
disturbed  their  rest,  and  frenzied  dreams  kept  the 
battle  of  Pharsalia  ever  before  their  tortured  minds. 
Their  pitiless  crime  is  awake  in  every  heart,  their 
whole  mind   is  busy  with    battle,  and   their   hands 

425 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ingemuisse  putem  campos,  terramque  noceiitem 

Inspirasse  animas,  infectumque  aera  totum 

Manibus  et  superam  Stygia  formidine  noctem.  770 

Exigit  a  mentis  tristes  victoria  poenas, 

Sibilaque  et  flammas  infert  sopor.     Umbra  perempti 

Civis  adest ;  sua  quemque  premit  terroris  imago  : 

Ille  senum  voltus,  iuvenum  videt  ille  figuras, 

Hunc  agitant  totis  fraterna  cadavera  somnis,  775 

Pectore  in  hoc  pater  est,  omnes  in  Caesare  manes. 

Haud  alios  nondum  Scythica  purgatus  in  ara 

Eumenidum  vidit  voltus  Pelopeus  Orestes, 

Nee  magis  attonitos  animi  sensere  tumultus. 

Cum  fureret,  Pentheus,  aut,  cum  desisset,  Agave.      780 

Hunc  omnes  gladii,  quos  aut  Pharsalia  vidit 

Aut  ultrix  visura  dies  stringente  senatu. 

Ilia  nocte  premunt,  hunc  infera  monstra  flagellant. 

Et  quantum  poenae  misero  mens  conscia  donat, 

Quod  Styga,  quod  manes  ingestaque  Tartara  somnis  785 

Pompeio  vivente  videt !     Tamen  omnia  passo, 

Postquam  clara  dies  Pharsalica  damna  retexit, 

Nulla  loci  facies  revocat  feralibus  arvis 

Haerentes  oculos.     Cernit  propulsa  cruore 

Flumina  et  excelsos  cumulis  aequantia  colles  790 

Corpora,  sidentes  in  tabem  spectat  acervos 

Et  Magni  numerat  populos,  epulisque  paratur 

Ille  locus,  voltus  ex  quo  faciesque  iacentum 

426 


BOOK    VII 

that  grasp  no  hilt  are  never  still.  I  can  well  believe 
that  the  battle-field  sent  forth  a  cry,  and  that  the 
guilty  soil  breathed  its  airs  upon  them  ;  that  all  the 
sky  was  tainted  by  the  dead,  and  the  night  of  the 
upper  world  darkened  with  the  terrors  of  Hell. 
Their  victory  justly  demands  grim  retribution;  sleep 
brings  flames  and  hissing  of  serpents  against  them. 
The  ghost  of  a  slain  countryman  stands  by  the  bed ; 
each  man  has  a  different  shape  of  terror  to  haunt 
him :  one  sees  the  faces  of  old  men,  another  the 
forms  of  youths ;  one  is  disturbed  all  night  by  his 
brother's  corpse,  another's  breast  is  weighed  down 
by  his  father's  ghost ,  but  all  the  ghosts  alike  attack 
Caesar.  Even  so  Pelopean  Orestes  beheld  the  faces 
of  the  Furies,  before  he  was  purified  at  the  Scythian 
altar;  nor  did  Pentheus  in  his  madness,  or  Agave, 
when  she  had  returned  to  her  senses,  feel  more 
horror  and  disturbance  of  mind.  All  the  swords 
that  Pharsalia  saw,  and  all  that  the  day  of  vengeance 
was  to  see  drawn  by  the  Senate,  were  aimed  at 
Caesar's  breast  that  night;  and  the  monsters  of 
Hell  scourged  him.  And  yet  his  guilt  excused  the 
wretch  great  part  of  his  penalty ;  for  when  Caesar 
beheld  the  Styx  and  its  ghosts  and  all  Hell  let 
loose  upon  his  sleep,  Pompey  was  still  alive.  All 
this  he  suffered;  and  yet,  when  daylight  revealed 
the  casualties  of  Pharsalia,  no  feature  of  the  land 
recalled  his  eyes  from  dwelling  on  the  fatal  field. 
He  sees  rivers  running  fast  with  gore,  and  heaps  of 
corpses  like  high  hills ;  he  beholds  the  piles  of  dead 
settling  down  into  corruption,  and  counts  the  nations 
that  followed  Magnus ;  and  a  spot,  from  which  he 
can  recognise  the  faces  and  features  of  the  dead,  is 
prepared  for  his  feasting.     He  rejoices  that  he  can- 

427 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Agnoscat.     luvat  Emathiam  non  ceinere  terram 

Et  lustrare  oculis  campos  sub  clade  latentes.  795 

Fortunam  superosque  suos  in  sanguine  cernit. 

Ac  ne  laeta  furens  scelerum  specti?cula  perdat, 

Invidet  igne  rogi  miseris  caeloque  nocenti 

Ingerit  Emathiam.     Non  ilium  Poenus  humator 

Consulis  et  Libyca  suecensae  lampade  Cannae  800 

Conpellunt,  hominum  ritus  ut  servet  in  hoste, 

Sed  meminit  nondum  satiata  caedibus  ira, 

Cives  esse  suos.     Petimus  non  singula  busta 

Discretosque  rogos  :  unum  da  gentibus  ignem, 

Non  interpositis  urantur  corpora  flammis  ;  806 

Aut,  generi  si  poena  iuvat,  nemus  extrue  Pindi, 

Erige  congestas  Oetaeo  robore  silvas, 

Thessalicam  videat  Pompeius  ab  aequore  flammam. 

Nil  agis  hac  ira :  tabesne  cadavera  solvat 

An  rogus,  baud  refert ;  placido  natura  receptat  810 

Cuncta  sinu^  finemque  sui  sibi  corpora  debent. 

Hos,  Caesar^  populos  si  nunc  non  usserit  ignis, 

Uret  cum  terris,  uret  cum  gurgite  ponti. 

Communis  mundo  superest  rogus  ossibus  astra 

Mixturus.     Quocumque  tuam  fortuna  vocabit,  816 

Hae  quoque  sunt  animae  :  non  altius  ibis  in  auras, 

Non  meliore  loco  Stygia  sub  nocte  iacebis. 

Libera  fortunae  mors  est ;  capit  omnia  tellus. 

Quae  genuit ;  caelo  tegitur,  qui  non  liabet  urnam. 


^  Hantiibal  gave  honourable  burial  to  Aemilius  Paullus  who 
had  fallen  in  the  battle  of  Cannae. 

*  The  Stoics  taught  that  the  world  would  be  destroyed  by 
fire. 

428 


«&«v 


BOOK   VII 

not  see  the  soil  of  Emathia,  and  that  the  plain 
which  his  eyes  pass  over  is  hidden  by  carnage.  In 
bloodshed  he  sees  his  victorious  fortune  and  the 
favour  of  Heaven.  And  in  his  madness,  loath  to 
lose  the  welcome  sight  of  his  wickedness,  he  denies 
the  wretches  a  pyre  and  thrusts  the  sight  of  Phar- 
saHa  upon  the  guilty  gods.  When  the  Carthaginian 
buried  a  consul,^  Cannae  was  lit  up  by  African 
torches ;  but  that  example  did  not  move  Caesar  to 
observe  the  rule  of  humanity  in  treatment  of  the 
foe :  hifi  rage  is  not  yet  glutted  with  the  slaughter, 
and  he  remembers  that  the  men  are  his  own  country- 
men. We  ask  not  a  pyre  for  each  or  a  separate 
burning :  provide  a  single  fire  for  all ;  let  the  bodies 
be  burnt  with  one  continuous  flame ;  or,  if  you  wish 
to  punish  your  kinsman,  pile  up  the  timber  from 
Pindus  and  build  aloft  all  the  oak-trees  from  Oeta's 
forests,  that  Pompey  may  see  from  his  ship  the 
blaze  of  Pharsalia.  But  Caesar's  rage  is  bootless : 
it  matters  not  whether  the  corpses  are  burnt  on  the 
pyre  or  decompose  with  time ;  nature  finds  room  for 
them  all  in  her  gentle  arms,  and  the  dead  owe  their 
end  to  themselves  alone.  If  fire  does  not  consume 
this  host  now,  it  will  consume  them  hereafter,^ 
together  with  the  earth  and  the  waters  of  the  sea ; 
there  remains  a  conflagration  which  will  destroy  all 
the  world  and  bring  the  stars  and  dead  men's  bones 
together.  Wliithersoever  destiny  summons  your 
spirit,  Caesar,  there  the  spirits  of  these  men  are 
also :  you  will  not  soar  higher  than  they,  you  will 
not  find  any  better  place,  if  you  lie  in  Stygian 
darkness.  The  dead  are  free  from  Fortune  ;  Mother 
Earth  has  room  for  all  her  children,  and  he  who 
lacks  an  urn  has  the  sky  to  cover  him.     But  you, 

429 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Tu,  cui  dant  poenas  inhumato  funere  gentes,  820 

Quid  fugis  banc  cladem  ?  quid  olentes  deseris  agros  ? 
Has  trahe^  Caesar,  aquas ;  hoc,  si  potes,  utere  caelo. 
Sed  tibi  tabentes  populi  Pharsalica  rura 
Eripiunt  camposque  tenent  victore  fugato. 

Non  solum  Haemonii  funesta  ad  pabula  belli  826 

Bistonii  venere  lupi  tabemque  cruentae 
Caedis  odorati  Pholoen  liquere  leones. 
Tunc  ursae  latebras,  obscaeni  tecta  domosque 
Deseruere  canes,  et  quidquid  nare  sagaci 
Aera  non  sanum  motumque  cadavere  sentit.  830 

lamque  diu  volucres  civilia  castra  secutae 
Conveniunt.     Vos,  quae  Nilo  mutare  soletis 
Threicias  hiemes,  ad  mollem  serius  Austrum 
Istis,  aves.     Numquam  tanto  se  volture  caelum 
Induit  aut  plures  presserunt  aera  pinnae.  835 

Omne  nemus  misit  volucres,  omnisque  cruenta 
Alite  sanguineis  stillavit  roribus  arbor. 
Saepe  super  voltus  victoris  et  inpia  signa 
Aut  cruor  aut  alto  defluxit  ab  aethere  tabes, 
Membraque  deiecit  iam  lassis  unguibus  ales.  840 

Sic  quoque  non  omnis  populus  pervenit  ad  ossa 
Inque  feras  discerptus  abit ;  non  intima  curant 
Viscera  nee  totas  avide  sorbere  medullas  : 
Degustant  artus.     Latiae  pars  maxima  turbae 
Fastidita  iacet,  quam  sol  nimbique  diesque  845 

Longior  Emathiis  resolutam  miscuit  arvis. 
Thessalia,  infelix,  quo  tantum  crimine,  tellus, 

430 


BOOK    VII 

who  punish  the  nations  by  refusing  them  burial, 
why  do  you  flee  this  carnage  and  abandon  these 
pestilential  fields?  Drink  this  water,  Caesar,  and 
breathe  this  air,  if  you  can.  No  :  the  nations  that 
turn  to  corruption  there  rob  you  of  Pharsalia :  they 
have  routed  the  conqueror  and  possess  the  field. 

The  Bistonian  wolves  came  to  the  grisly  feast 
afforded  by  the  battle  in  Thessaly,  and  the  lions 
left  Pholoe  when  they  scented  out  the  corruption 
of  the  slain.  And  not  they  alone;  but  bears  left 
their  dens,  obscene  dogs  came  from  the  dwellings 
and  houses  of  men,  and  every  creature  that  per- 
ceives by  the  power  of  scent  air  that  is  unwhole- 
some and  tainted  with  death.  The  birds  that  long 
had  followed  the  armies  of  civil  war  now  flocked 
together.  The  cranes  that  each  year  leave  the 
Thracian  winter  for  the  Nile  were  late  in  migrating 
to  the  warm  south.  Never  did  the  sky  clothe  itself 
with  such  a  host  of  vultures ;  never  did  more  wings 
beat  the  air.  Every  wood  sent  its  birds,  and  when 
the  birds  were  bloodstained,  every  tree  dripped 
with  a  crimson  dew.  Rotting  flesh  or  drops  of 
blood  often  fell  from  the  sky  upon  the  face  and 
accursed  standards  of  the  conqueror,  when  the 
birds  grew  weary  and  dropt  the  dead  limbs  from 
-  their  talons.  But  even  so  not  all  that  host  was 
picked  to  the  bones  or  torn  and  devoured  by  beasts  : 
»  bird  and  beast  pay  no  heed  to  the  inmost  organs, 
^''"'and  are  not  eager  to  suck  all  the  marrow  of  the 
J  bones ;  they  merely  taste  the  limbs.  Most  of  the 
Roman  dead  they  left  to  lie  unheeded  ;  but  sun  and 
rain  and  time  dissolved  their  bodies  and  blended 
them  with  the  soil  of  Thessaly. 

Unhappy  land  of  Thessaly  !    what  sin  of  yours 

431 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Laesisti  superos,  ut  te  tot  mortibus  unam. 

Tot  scelerum  fatis  premerent  ?  quod  sufficit  aevum, 

Inmemor  ut  donet  belli  tibi  damna  vetustas  ?  850 

Quae  seges  infecta  surget  non  decolor  herba? 

Quo  non  Romanos  violabis  vomere  manes  ? 

Ante  novae  venient  acies,  scelerique  secundo 

Praestabis  nondum  siccos  hoc  sanguine  campos. 

Omnia  maiorum  vertamus  busta  licebit  855 

Et  stantes  tumulos  et  qui  radice  vetusta 

Effudere  suas  victis  conpagibus  urnas. 

Plus  cinerum  Haemoniae  sulcis  telluris  aratur, 

Pluraque  ruricolis  feriuntur  dentibus  ossa. 

NuUas  ab  Emathio  religasset  litore  funem  860 

Navita,  nee  terram  quisquam  movisset  arator, 

Romani  bustum  populi,  fugerentque  coloni 

Umbrarum  campos,  gregibus  dumeta  carerent, 

Nullusque  auderet  pecori  permittere  pastor 

Vellere  surgentem  de  nostris  ossibus  herbam,  866 

Ac,  velut  inpatiens  hominum  vel  solis  iniqui 

Limite  vel  glacie,  nuda  atque  ignota  iaceres. 

Si  non  prima  nefas  belli  sed  sola  tulisses. 

O  superi,  liceat  terras  odisse  nocentes. 

Quid  totum  premitis,  quid  totum  absolvitis  orbem  ?  870 

Hesperiae  clades  et  flebilis  unda  Pachyni 

Et  Mutina  et  Leucas  puros  fecere  Philippos. 

»  The  battle  of  Philippi. 

«  He  refers  to  the  following  episodes  of  the  Civil  Wars: 
(1)  the  battle  of  Munda  in  Spain  (45  B.C.)  ;  (2)  the  naval 
victories  of  Agrippa  over  Sextus  Pompeius  oflF  Sicily  in  36  B.C.  ; 

(3)  the   fighting  round  Mutina  (now  Modena)  in  43  B.C. ;  and 

(4)  the  battle  of  Actium  in  31  B.C. 

*  Pharsalia  is  called  Philippi ;  see  n.  to  i.  680. 


433 


BOOK   VII 

offended  the  gods  so  grievously  that  they  visited 
you  beyond  otiier  lands  with  such  a  holocaust  of 
victims  and  such  a  myriad  of  deaths  in  civil  war? 
No  lapse  of  time  is  long  enough  to  make  posterity 
forget  and  forgive  the  losses  which  your  battle 
wrought;  each  crop  will  rise  discoloured  and  with 
tainted  blades  from  your  soil ;  and  all  your  plough- 
shares will  do  violence  to  Roman  dead.  Mean- 
while, fresh  armies  will  meet,  and  you  will  offer  your 
plains  for  a  second  crime  ^  before  this  blood  has 
dried  off  them.  Though  we  empty  out  all  the 
tombs  of  our  ancestors — both  those  that  are  still 
erect,  and  those  which,  when  their  masonry  was 
split  by  ancient  roots,  spilt  their  urns—yet  the 
plough  turns  up  more  relics  in  the  furrows  of 
Thessaly,  and  the  harrows  that  till  those  fields 
strike  against  more  bones.  No  sailor  would  fasten 
his  cable  to  the  shore  of  Thessaly ;  no  plough- 
man would  stir  the  soil  where  the  Roman  people 
lies  buried;  the  husbandmen  would  flee  from 
the  haunted  plains ;  the  thickets  would  shelter  no 
flocks,  and  no  shepherd  would  dare  to  let  his  sheep 
crop  the  grass  that  grows  from  Roman  bones — 
Thessaly  would  be  an  unknown  desert,  as  if  icy  cold 
or  the  zone  of  oppressive  heat  made  it  unfit  for 
habitation,  if  it  had  been  the  only  land,  and  not 
merely  the  first,  to  be  the  scene  of  civil  war.  Ye 
gods,  give  us  the  power  to  curse  the  country 
that  is  guilty.  Why  do  ye  condemn  all  the 
world,  and  so  acquit  it  all?  The  slaughter  in  the 
West  and  the  mournful  sea  of  Pachynum,  Mutina 
and  Leucas,2  have  washed  away  the  guilt  of 
Philippi.8 

433 

VOL.   I.  P 


BOOK   VIII 


LIBER   OCTAVUS 

Iam  super  Herculeas  fauces  nemorosaque  Tempe 

Haemoniae  deserta  petens  dispendia  silvae 

Cornipedem  exhaustum  cursu  stimulisque  negantem 

Magnus  agens  incerta  fugae  vestigia  turbat 

Inplieitasque  errore  vias.     Pavet  ille  fragorem  6 

Motorum  ventis  nemorum,  comitumque  suorum 

Qui  post  terga  redit  trepidum  laterique  timentem 

Exanimat.     Quamvis  summo  de  culmine  lapsus 

Nondum  vile  sui  pretium  scit  sanguinis  esse, 

Seque,  memor  fati,  tantae  mercedis  habere  10 

Credit  adhuc  iugulum,  quantam  pro  Caesaris  ipse 

Avolsa  cervice  daret.     Deserta  sequentem 

Non  patitur  tutis  fatum  celare  latebris 

Clara  viri  facies.     Multi,  Pharsalica  castra 

Cum  peterent  nondum  fama  prodente  ruinas,  15 

Occursu  stupuere  ducis  vertigine  rerum 

Attoniti,  cladisque  suae  vix  ipse  fidelis 

Auctor  erat.    Gravis  est  Magno,  quicumque  malorura 

Testis  adest.     Cunctis  ignotus  gentibus  esse 

Mallet  et  obscuro  tutus  transire  per  urbes  20 

Nomine  ;  scd  poenas  longi  Fortuna  favoris 

Exigit  a  misero,  quae  tanto  pondere  famae 


*  Legend  said  that  Hercules  had  cleft  the  mountains  and 
formed  the  Vale  of  Tempe:  comp.  vi,  347.  "Beyond"  means 
' '  further  from  the  sea." 

436 


BOOK  VIII 

And  now  beyond  wooded  Tempe,  the  Gorge  of 
Hercules,^  Magnus  made  by  circuitous  paths  for 
the  lonely  forests  of  Thessaly ;  as  he  urged  on  his 
horse  which  was  worn  out  by  rapid  flight  and  deaf 
to  the  spur,  he  confused  the  traces  of  his  retreat 
and  made  a  labyrinth  of  his  tracks.  He  dreads  the 
sound  of  the  trees  in  the  wind ;  and  any  of  his 
comrades  who  falls  back  to  join  him  causes  him 
terror  in  his  agitation  and  fear  for  his  own  person. 
Though  fallen  from  his  lofty  eminence,  he  knows 
that  the  price  of  his  blood  is  still  high  ;  and,  mind- 
ful of  his  career,  he  believes  that  his  death  can 
still  earn  as  great  a  reward  as  he  himself  would 
give  for  the  severed  head  of  Caesar.  Though  he 
seeks  solitude,  his  known  features  suffer  him  not 
to  hide  his  disaster  in  safe  concealment.  Many  who 
were  on  their  way  to  the  camp  at  Pharsalia,  before 
rumour  had  published  his  defeat  abroad,  were 
startled  to  meet  their  leader  and  astounded  by  the 
sudden  change  of  fortune ;  and  he  was  scarcely 
believed  when"  he  reported  his  own  defeat.  The 
presence  of  any  witness  of  his  woes  was  grievous 
to  him.  He  would  choose  to  be  unknown  to  all 
nations,  and  to  pass  safely  through  the  cities  with 
a  name  unknown  to  fame ;  but  Fortune,  who  long 
had  favoured  him,  now  demands  from  her  victim 
the  penalty  of  that  favour ;  she  throws  all  the  weight 

437 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Res  premit  adversas  fatisque  prioribus  urguet. 

Nunc  festinatos  nimium  sibi  sentit  honores 

v\ctaque  lauriferae  damnat  Sullana  iuventaCj  26 

Nunc  et  Corycias  classes  et  Pontica  signa 

Deiectum  meminisse  piget.     Sic  longius  aevum 

Destruit  ingentes  animoi.  et  vita  superstes 

Imperio.     Nisi  summa  dies  cum  fine  bonorum 

Adfuit  et  celeri  praevertit  tristia  leto^  30 

Dedecori  est  fortuna  prior.     Quisquamne  secundis 

Tradere  se  fatis  audet  nisi  morte  parata  ? 

Litora  contigerat,  per  quae  Peneius  amnis 
Emathia  iam  clade  rubens  exibat  in  aequor. 
Inde  ratis  trepidum  ventis  ac  fluctibus  inpar,  35 

Flumineis  vix  tuta  vadis^  evexit  in  altum. 
Cuius  adhuc  remis  quatitur  Corcyra  sinusque 
Leucadii,  Cilicum  dominus  terraeque  Liburnae 
Exiguam  vector  pavidus  correpsit  in  alnum. 
Conscia  curarum  secretae  in  litora  Lesbi  40 

Flectere  vela  iubet,  qua  tunc  tellure  latebas 
Maestior,  in  mediis  quam  si,  Cornelia,  campis 
Emathiae  stares.     Tristes  praesagia  curas 
Exagitant,  trepida  quatitur  formidine  somnus, 
Thessaliam  nox  omnis  habet ;  tenebrisque  remotis       45 
Rupis  in  abruptae  scopulos  extremaque  curris 
Litora  ;  proypiciens  fluctus  nutantia  longe 
Semper  prima  vides  venientis  vela  carinae, 
Quaerere  nee  quidquam  de  fate  coniugis  audes. 
En  ratis,  ad  vestros  quae  tendit  carbasa  portus  !  60 


^  Corycus  is  a  promontory  in  Cilicia. 
2  1.6.  "the  battle-field." 


438 


BOOK   VIII 

of  his  renown  into  the  scale  of  adversity  and  crushes 
him  beneath  his  former  successes.  Now  he  feels 
that  his  honours  came  too  quick  upon  him ;  now  he 
curses  the  exploits  of  his  triumphant  youth  in 
Sulla's  day ;  now  he  hates  in  his  fall  to  remember 
the  fleets  of  Cilicia^  and  the  armies  of  Pontus. 
Thus  length  of  days  and  life  surviving  power  humble 
the  proudest  heart.  Unless  the  end  of  life  comes 
together  with  the  end  of  happiness,  and  anticipates 
sorrow  by  speedy  death,  past  greatness  is  a  mockery. 
Does  any  dare  to  trust  prosperity,  except  he  has  the 
means  of  death  at  hand  ? 

He  had  reached  the  shore  where  the  river  Peneus, 
already  red  with  the  slaughter  of  Pharsalia,  passed 
out  into  the  sea.  From  there  a  boat,  no  match  for 
winds  and  waves  and  scarcely  safe  in  the  shallow 
river,  bore  him  out  trembling  over  the  deep.  He 
whose  oars  still  churn  the  waters  of  Corcyra  and 
the  bays  of  Leucas,  he,  the  lord  of  the  Cilicians 
and  the  Liburnian  land,  slinks  as  a  frightened 
passenger  into  a  little  boat.  He  bids  them  bend 
the  sail  towards  the  distant  shore  of  Lesbos — the 
shore  entrusted  with  his  loved  Cornelia ;  in  that  land 
she  was  hidden,  but  she  was  sadder  than  if  she  had 
stood  in  the  centre  of  Pharsalia's  field.  For  her 
sorrow  is  intensified  by  forebodings,  and  her  sleep 
broken  by  anxious  fears.  Every  night  brings  Phar- 
salia 2  before  her ;  and,  when  darkness  disappears, 
she  hastens  to  the  peak  of  a  steep  cliff  at  the  shore's 
edge  and  looks  out  over  the  waves ;  she  is  always 
the  first  to  see  the  sails  of  an  approaching  vessel 
dipping  in  the  distance,  but  she  dare  ask  no  question 
concerning  her  husband's  fate.  But  see !  a  ship 
spreading  her  sail  towards  the  harbours  of  Lesbos  ] 

439 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quid  ferat,  ignoras,  et  nunc  tibi  summa  pavoris 

Nuntius  armorum  tristis  rumorque  sinister. 

Victus  adest  coniunx.     Quid  perdis  tempora  luctus? 

Cum  possis  iam  flere,  times.     Turn  puppe  propinqua 

Prosiluit  crimcnque  deum  crudele  notavit,  65 

Deformem  pailore  dueem  voltusque  prementem 

Canitiem  atque  atro  squalentes  pulvere  vestes. 

Obvia  nox  miserae  caelum  lucemque  tenebris 

Abstulit,  atque  animam  clausit  dolor ;  omnia  nervis 

Membra  relicta  labant,  riguerunt  corda,  diuque  60 

Spe  mortis  decepta  iacet.     Iam  fune  ligato 

Litoribus  lustrat  vacuas  Pompeius  harenas. 

Quem  postquam  propius  famulae  videre  fideles, 

Non  ultra  gemitus  tacitos  incessere  fatum 

Permisere  sibi^  friistraque  attollere  terra  65 

Semianimem  conantur  eram  ;  quam  pectore  Magnus 

Ambit  et  astrictos  refovet  conplexibus  artus. 

Coeperat  in  summum  revocato  sanguine  corpus 

Pompei  sentire  manus  maestamque  mariti 

Posse  pati  faciem  :  prohibet  succumbere  fatis  70 

Magnus  et  inmodicos  castigat  voce  dolores : 

"  Nobile  cur  robur  fortunae  volnere  primo, 

Femina  tantorum  titulis  insignis  avorum, 

Frangis  ?     Habes  aditum  mansurae  in  saecula  famae. 

Laudis  in  hoc  sexu  non  legum  cura  ^  nee  arma,  75 

Unica  materia  est  coniunx  miser.     Erige  mentem, 

Et  tua  cum  fatis  pietas  decertet,  et  ipsum, 

^  cura  Markland  :  iura  M88. 

^  "Darkness"  here  and  often  has  the  sense  of  "fainting"  or 
"unconsciousness";  comp.  v.  220. 

440 


BOOK   VIII 

What  it  brings,  she  knows  not;  and  up  till  now 
her  worst  fear  is  evil  news  of  the  war  and  ominous 
report;  but  now  the  messenger  is  her  husband,  and 
his  message,  defeat.  Why  waste  the  time  when  you 
might  mourn  ?  Though  you  might  weep  already,  you 
only  fear.  Then,  as  the  ship  came  close,  she  sprang 
up  and  marked  the  guilt  and  cruelty  of  Heaven, 
the  ghastly  pallor  of  the  general,  the  white  hair 
that  hid  his  face,  and  the  black  dust  that  defiled  his 
garments.  Darkness^  closed  upon  her  grief  and 
robbed  her  of  the  light  of  heaven ;  sorrow  stopped 
her  breath  ;  betrayed  by  the  muscles,  all  her  limbs 
relaxed,  her  heart  ceased  to  beat,  and  long  she  lay 
deceived  by  the  hope  that  this  was  death.  Now  the 
cable  was  made  fast  to  the  shore,  and  Pompey  trod 
the  solitary  strand.  When  her  faithful  handmaids 
saw  him  close  at  hand,  they  dared  not  rail  at  destiny 
except  with  stifled  groans,  and  tried  in  vain  to  lift 
their  fainting  mistress  from  the  ground ;  but  Pompey 
folded  her  in  his  arms  and  brings  back  life  to  the 
rigid  limbs  by  his  embrace.  Back  came  the  blood 
to  the  surface  of  the  body ;  she  began  to  be  aware 
of  Pompey's  touch,  and  to  be  able  to  endure  the 
sorrowful  face  of  her  husband.  He  forbids  her  to 
be  conquered  by  destiny  and  tiius  reproves  the 
excess  of  her  sorrow  :  "  Adorned  as  you  are  by  the 
fame  of  such  mighty  ancestors,  why  do  you  suffer 
the  first  stroke  of  Fortune  to  break  down  the 
courage  of  your  noble  race?  Here  is  your  oppor- 
tunity for  undying  fame.  To  your  sex  neither 
peaceful  government  nor  war  is  a  field  for  glory  :  a 
husband's  sorrow  alone  can  win  it.  Lift  up  your 
heart,  let  your  devotion  wrestle  with  destiny,  and 
let  the  very  fact  that   I  have  been  conquered  be 

441 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quod  sum  victus,  ama.     Nunc  sum  tibi  gloria  maior, 
A  me  quod  fasces  et  quod  pia  turba  senatus 
Tantaque  discessit  regum  manus  :  incipe  Magnum 
Sola  sequi.     Deformis  adhuc  vivente  marito 
Summus  et  augeri  vetitus  dolor :  ultima  debet 
Esse  fides  lugere  virum.     Tu  nulla  tulisti 
Bello  damna  meo  :  vivit  post  proelia  Magnus 
Sed  fortuna  perit.     Quod  defies,,  illud  amasti." 

Vocibus  his  correpta  viri  vix  aegra  levavit 
Membra  solo  tales  gemitu  rumpente  querellas  : 
"  O  utinam  in  thalamos  invisi  Caesaris  issem 
Infelix  coniunx  et  nuUi  laeta  marito  ! 
Bis  nocui  mundo :  me  pronuba  ducit  Erinys 
Crassorumque  umbrae,  devotaque  manibus  illis 
Assyrios  in  castra  tuli  civilia  casus, 
Praecipitesque  dedi  populos  cunctosque  fugavi 
A  causa  meliore  deos.     O  maxime  coniunx, 
O  thalamis  indigne  meis,  hoc  iuris  habebat 
In  tantum  fortuna  caput  ?     cur  inpia  nupsi. 
Si  miserum  factura  fui  ?  nunc  accipe  poenas, 
Sed  quas  sponte  luam  :  quo  sit  tibi  mollius  aequor, 
Certa  fides  regum  totusque  paratior  orbis. 
Sparge  mari  comitem.     Mallem  felicibus  armis 
Dependisse  caput :  nunc  clades  denique  lustra, 
Magne,  tuas.     Ubicumque  iaces  civilibus  armis 
Nostros  ulta  toros,  ades  hue  atque  exige  poenas, 

*  See  n.  to  iii.  22, 
442 


BOOK    VIII 

dear  to  you.  For  1  bring  you  greater  distinction 
now,  when  the  magistrates  and  devoted  ranks  of 
the  Senate  and  all  my  retinue  of  kings  have  parted 
from  me  :  from  this  time  be  the  sole  follower  of 
Magnus.  The  depth  of  woe,  woe  that  admits  of 
no  increase,  is  unbecoming  while  your  husband 
lives ;  to  mourn  him  dead  should  be  your  last  proof 
of  fidelity.  My  defeat  has  brought  no  loss  to  you ; 
for  Magnus  survives  the  battle,  though  his  greatness 
has  gone ;  that  which  you  weep  for  is  what  you 
really  loved." 

Thus  rebuked  by  her  husband,  slowly  she  raised 
her  ailing  limbs  from  the  ground,  and  her  wailing 
broke  out  into  complaints  like  these  :  *'  Would  that  I 
had  been  wedded  to  hated  Caesar ;  for  disaster  was 
my  dower  and  I  have  brought  happiness  to  no 
husband.  Twice  have  I  brought  a  curse  on  man- 
kind ;  the  Fury  and  the  ghosts  of  the  Crassi  ^  gave 
me  in  marriage ;  and  I,  devoted  to  those  dead,  have 

Oi:  brought  the  disaster  of  Carrhae  to  the  camp  of  civil 
war,  and  hurled  nations  to  their  doom,  and  driven 
all  Heaven  away  from  the  better  side.  O  mighty 
husband,  too  good  for  such  a  wife,  had  Fortune 
such  power  over  one  so  great  .^  Why  was  I  guilty 
of  marrying   you,  if   I   was  to   bring   you  sorrow? 

BSj  Now  accept  the  penalty — a  penalty  which  I  will 
gladly  pay :  that  the  sea  may  be  smoother  for 
you,  the  kings  steadfast  in  their  loyalty,  and  the 
whole  world  more  ready  to  serve  you,  scatter  the 
limbs  of  your  companion  over  the  deep.  1  had 
rather  have  laid  down  my  life  to  buy  you  victory ; 
as  it  is,  at  least  expiate  your  defeat  by  my  death. 
Let  relentless  Julia,  wherever  she  is  buried,  come 
here  and  exact  the  penalty;  she  has  punished  our 

443 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

lulia  crudelis,  placataque  paelice  caesa 

Magno  parce  tuo."     Sic  fata  iterumque  refusa  106 

Coniugis  in  gremium  cunctorum  lumina  solvit 

In  lacrimas.     Duri  flectuntur  pectora  Magni, 

Siccaque  Tliessalia  confudit  lumina  Lesbos. 

Tunc  Mytilenaeum  pleno  iam  litore  volgus 
Adfatur  Magnum  :  "  Si  maxima  gloria  nobis  110 

Semper  erit  tanti  pignus  servasse  mariti, 
Tu  quoque  devotos  sacro  tibi  foedere  muros 
Oramus  sociosque  lares  dignere  vel  una 
Nocte  tua :  fac,  Magne,  locum,  quern  cuncta  revisant 
Saecula,  quem  veniens  hospes  ilomanus  adoret.  116 

Nulla  tibi  subeunda  magis  sunt  moenia  victo  : 
Omnia  victoris  possunt  sperare  favorem, 
Haec  iam  crimen  habent.  Quid,  quod  iacet  insula  ponto, 
Caesar  eget  ratibus  ?  procerum  pars  magna  coibit 
Carta  loci,  note  reparandum  est  litore  fatuni.  120 

Accipe  templorum  cultus  aurumque  deorum ; 
Accipe,  si  terris,  si  puppibus  ista  iuventus 
Aptior  est ;  tota,  quantum  valet,  utere  Lesbo. 
Accipe  :  ne  Caesar  rapiat,  tu  victus  habeto. 
Hoc  solum  crimen  meritae  bene  detrahe  terrae,  126 

Ne  nostram  videare  fidem  felixque  secutus 
Et  damnasse  miser."     Tali  pietate  virorum 
Laetus  in  adversis  et  mundi  nomine  gaudens 
Esse  fidem  "  Nullum  toto  mihi "  dixit  "in  orbe 

1  By  having  sheltered  Cornelia. 
444 


BOOK   VIII 

marriage  by  civil  strife ;  let  her  be  appeased  by  the 
death  of  her  rival  and  spare  Magnus  when  he  is 
hers."  With  these  words  she  fell  back  into  her 
husband's  arms,  and  the  eyes  of  all  were  melted  to 
tears.  The  stern  heart  of  Magnus  was  moved,  and 
Lesbos  made  wet  the  eyes  that  were  dry  at  Pharsalia. 
Next  the  people  of  Mytilene,  who  had  now 
flocked  to  the  shore,  addressed  Magnus  thus : 
"Since  it  will  ever  be  our  chief  boast  to  have 
guarded  the  treasure  of  so  great  a  husband,  do  you 
also  honour  the  city  bound  to  you  by  sacred  ties, 
and  deem  our  friendly  dwellings  worthy  to  shelter 
you  for  one  night  at  least.  Make  this  a  place  of 
pilgrimage  for  all  ages,  a  place  where  strangers 
may  come  from  Rome  and  worship.  No  city  is 
more  fit  for  you  to  enter  after  defeat :  though  all 
others  may  hope  for  the  clemency  of  the  conqueror, 
ours  is  already  guilty.^  Besides,  Lesbos  is  an  island, 
and  Caesar  has  no  fleet.  Most  of  the  senators, 
knowing  where  to  find  you,  will  gather  here ; 
you  must  make  good  your  failure  on  this  famous 
shore.  Take  the  ornaments  of  our  temples  and  the 
treasure  of  our  gods ;  take  our  manhood's  strength, 
to  use  on  land  or  at  sea,  wherever  it  is  most  service- 
able ;  make  use  of  all  Lesbos  to  the  utmost  of  her 
power.  Accept  our  gifts ;  though  conquered,  take 
them  that  Caesar  may  not  rob  us  of  them.  Only 
of  this  charge  acquit  a  land  that  has  served  you 
well :  let  it  not  appear  that  in  adversity  you  doubted 
our  loyalty  which  you  appealed  to  in  your  good 
fortune."  Cheered  in  his  hour  of  defeat  to  find 
such  devotion,  and  glad,  for  the  sake  of  humanity, 
that  loyalty  still  existed,  Pompey  replied  :  "  By  a 
most  dear  pledge  I  have  proved  to  you  that  no  land 

445 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Gratius  esse  solum  non  parvo  pignore  vobis  130 

Ostendi :  tenuit  nostros  hac  obside  Lesbos 

Adfectus ;  hie  sacra  domus  carique  penates, 

Hie  mihi  Roma  fuit.     Non  ulla  in  litora  puppem 

Ante  dedi  fugienSj  saevi  cum  Caesaris  iram 

lam  scirem  meritam  servata  coniuge  Lesbon,  135 

Non  veritus  tantam  veniae  committere  vobis 

Materiam.     Sed  iam  satis  est  fecisse  nocentes  : 

Fata  mihi  totum  mea  sunt  agitanda  per  orbem. 

Heu  nimium  felix  aeterno  nomine  Lesbos, 

Sive  doces  populos  regesque  admittere  Magnum,         140 

Seu  praestas  mihi  sola  fidem.     Nam  quaerere  certum  est, 

Fas  quibus  in  terris,  ubi  sit  scelus.     Accipe,  numen 

Si  quod  adhuc  mecum  es,  votorum  extrema  meorum  : 

Da  similes  Lesbo  populos,  qui  Marte  subactum 

Non  intrare  suos  infesto  Caesare  portus,  146 

Non  exire  vetent.*'     Dixit  maestamque  carinae 

Inposuit  comitem.     Cunctos  mutare  putares 

Tellurem  patriaeque  solum :  sic  litore  toto 

Plangitur,  infestae  tenduntur  in  aethera  dextrae. 

Pompeiumque  minus,  cuius  fortuna  dolorem  150 

Moverat,  ast  illam,  quam  toto  tempore  belli 

Ut  civem  videre  suam,  discedere  cernens 

Ingemuit  populus  ;  quam  vix,  si  castra  mariti 

Victoris  peteret,  siccis  dimittere  matres 

lam  poterant  oculis  :  tan  to  devinxit  amore  155 

Hos  pudor,  hos  probitas  castique  modestia  voltus, 

Quod  summissa  animis,^  nulli  gravis  hospita  turbae, 

^  animis  Heinsius  :  nimis  M8S. 

1  His  own  person,  which  they  might  betray  to  Caesar. 
446 


BOOK   VIII 

on  earth  is  more  acceptable  to  me  :  Lesbos  held  my 
heart,  while  Cornelia  was  your  hostage ;  Lesbos  was 
my  hearth  and  home,  all  that  was  dear  and  sacred ; 
Lesbos  was  Rome  to  me.  To  no  other  shore  did  I 
first  direct  my  vessel  in  my  flight;  and,  though  I 
knew  that  Lesbos  had  already  earned  Caesar's  anger 
by  keeping  safe  my  wife,  I  did  not  fear  to  put  in 
your  hands  so  mighty  a  means  ^  of  gaining  his  for- 
giveness. But  here  I  must  call  a  halt  and  make 
you  guilty  no  more.  My  own  future  I  must  follow 
up  over  all  the  world.  Ah,  too  happy  Lesbos,  and 
famous  for  ever,  whether  she  teaches  other  nations 
and  kings  to  harbour  me  or  alone  proves  faithful  to 
me.  For  I  am  resolved  to  search  the  world  and  find 
out  where  goodness  is,  and  where  crime.  Hear  my 
last  prayer,  ye  gods,  if  any  god  is  still  upon  my 
side :  may  I  find  nations  like  to  Lesbos,  who  will 
suffer  a  defeated  man,  pursued  by  Caesar,  to  enter 
their  ports  and  also  suffer  him  to  sail  out  again." 
Thus  he  spoke  and  set  his  sorrowing  companion  on 
board.  One  might  have  thought  that  all  the  people 
were  leaving  their  native  soil  for  a  foreign  land ;  such 
wailing  rose  from  all  the  shore  ;  and  menacing  hands 
were  stretched  towards  heaven.  Pompey's  departure 
they  felt  less — his  ill-fortune  only  had  stirred  their 
grief;  but  when  they  saw  Cornelia  leaving  them, 
Cornelia  whom  throughout  the  war  they  looked  on 
as  one  of  themselves,  tlien  the  people  groaned 
aloud  ;  if  she  had  sought  the  camp  of  a  victorious 
husband,  scarce  could  the  matrons  have  parted  from 
her  without  tears ;  with  such  love  had  she  attached 
some  by  her  gentleness,  others  by  her  goodness 
and  her  pure  and  modest  looks,  because,  humble  of 
heart    and    a    burdensome   guest  to   none   of    the 

447 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Stantis  adbuc  fati  vixit  quasi  coniuge  victo. 

lam  pelago  medios  Titan  demissus  ad  ignes 
Nee  qiiibus  abscondit,  nee  si  quibus  exerit  orbem,       160 
Totus  erat.     Vigiles  Pompei  pectore  curae 
Nunc  soeias  adeunt  Romani  foederis  urbes 
Et  varias  regum  mentes,  nune  invia  mundi 
Arva  super  nimios  soles  Austrumque  iacentis. 
Saepe  labor  maestus  curarum  odiumque  futuri  166 

Proiecit  fessos  incerti  pectoris  aestus, 
Rectoremque  ratis  de  cunctis  consulit  astris, 
Unde  notet  terras,  quae  sit  mensura  secandi 
Aequoris  in  caelo,  Syriara  quo  sidere  servet, 
Aut  quotus  in  Plaustro  Libyam  bene  derigat  ignis.     170 
Doctus  ad  haec  fatur  taciti  servator  Olynipi : 
''Signifero  quaecumque  fluunt  labentia  caelo 
Numquam  stante  polo  miseros  fallentia  nautas, 
Sidera  non  sequimur ;  sed,  qui  non  mergitur  undis 
Axis  inocciduus  gemina  clarissimus  Arcto,  176 

lile  regit  puppes.      Hie  cum  mihi  semper  in  altum 
Surget  et  instabit  summis  minor  Ursa  ceruchis, 
Bosporon  et  Scythiae  curvantem  litora  Pontum 
Spectamus.     Quidquid  descendet  ab  arbore  summa 
Arctophylax  propiorque  mari  Cynosura  feretur,  180 

In  Syriae  portus  tendit  ratis.     Inde  Canopos 
Excipit,  australi  caelo  contenta  vagari. 


*  The  Antipodes,  whose  existence  was  denied  by  some  of  the 
ancients. 


448 


BOOK    VIII 

people,  she  lived,  while  her  husband's  fortune  stood 
firm,  as  if  he  had  been  conquered  already. 

By  now  the  sun  had  sunk  half  his  ball  of  fire  in 
the  sea,  and  his  disc  was  not  wholly  seen  either  by 
those  from  wiiora  he  withdrew  it,  or  by  those,  if 
such  there  be,^  to  whom  he  revealed  it.  The  care 
that  kept  watch  in  Pompey's  breast  turned  at  one 
time  to  the  allied  cities  in  league  with  Rome  and 
to  the  wavering  allegiance  of  the  kings,  at  another 
time  to  the  pathless  lands  of  the  region  that  lies 
beyond  the  burning  suns  of  the  south.  So  sad  and 
weary  were  his  thougiits,  such  his  loathing  of  the 
morrow,  that  often  he  threw  off  the  heavy  load 
of  his  conflicting  purposes,  and  questioned  the 
steersman  concerning  all  the  stars;  by  what  star 
does  he  mark  the  land }  what  rule  and  measure 
for  cleaving  the  sea  does  the  sky  afford?  by  what 
star  does  he  keep  a  course  to  Syria  ?  or  which  of  the 
seven  stars  in  the  Wain  is  a  sure  guide  to  Libya? 
The  skilled  watcher  of  the  silent  sky  replied  to  him 
thus:  "All  those  lights  which  move  and  glide 
through  the  starry  heavens  mislead  the  hapless 
seaman,  because  the  sky  is  ever  shifting  ;  to  them 
we  pay  no  heed ;  but  the  pole-star,  which  never 
sets  or  sinks  beneath  the  waves,  the  brightest  star 
in  the  two  Bears,  he  it  is  that  guides  our  course. 
When  I  see  him  mount  ever  towards  the  zenith, 
and  when  the  Little  Bear  rises  above  the  towering 
yards,  then  we  face  towards  the  Bosporus  and  the 
Black  Sea  that  hollows  the  Scythian  shore.  But 
whenever  Bootes  sinks  from  the  topmast  and  the 
Little  Bear  moves  nearer  the  horizon,  the  ship  is 
making  for  the  ports  of  Syria.  Next  after  that 
conies  Canopus,  a  star  that  shuns  the  North   and 

449 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Stella,  timens  Borean  :  ilia  quoque  perge  sinistra 
Trans  Pharon,  in  medio  tanget  ratis  aequore  Syrtim. 
Sed  quo  vela  dari,  quo  nunc  pede  carbasa  tendi  185 

Nostra  iubes  ?  "     Dubio  contra  cui  pectore  Magnus 
"  Hoc  solum  toto  "  respondit  "in  aequore  serva, 
Ut  sit  ab  Emathiis  semper  tua  longius  oris 
Puppis,  et  Hesperiam  pelago  caeloque  relinquas  : 
Cetera  da  ventis.     Comitem  pignusque  recepi  190 

Depositum ;  turn  certus  eram,  quae  litora  vellem. 
Nunc  portum  fortuna  dabit."     Sic  fatur ;  at  ille 
lusto  vela  modo  pendentia  cornibus  acquis 
Torsit  et  in  laevum  puppim  dedit,  utque  secaret 
Quas  Asinae  cautes  et  quas  Chios  asperat  undas  195 

Hos  dedit  in  proram,  tenet  hos  in  puppe  rudentes. 
Aequora  senserunt  motus  aliterque  secante 
lam  pelagus  rostro  nee  idem  spectante  carina 
Mutavere  sonum.      Non  sic  moderator  equorum, 
Dexteriore  rota  laevum  cum  circumit  axem,  200 

Cogit  inoffensae  currus  accedere  metae. 
Ostendit  terras  Titan  et  sidera  texit. 
Sparsus  ab  Emathia  fugit  quicumque  procella, 
Adsequitur  Magnum  ;  primusque  a  litore  Lesbi 
Occurrit  natus,  procerum  mox  turba  fidelis.  206 

Nam  neque  deiecto  fatis  acieque  fugato 
Abstulerat  Magno  reges  fortuna  ministros  : 
Terrarum  dominos  et  sceptra  Eoa  tenentes 
Exul  habet  comites.     lubet  ire  in  devia  mundi 


A  This  place  is  not  mentioned  elsawhere. 

*  With  the  result  that  they  took  a  southern  course. 
'  The  left  wheel  acts  as  a  pivot. 

*  Sextus,  his  younger  son  ;  Guaeus,  the  elder  son,  was  now  at 
Corcyra  with  the  fleet. 


BOOK   VIII 

limits  its  wanderings  to  the  southern  sky  ;  if  you 
keep  it  on  the  left  and  sail  on  past  Pharos,  your 
vessel  will  strike  the  Syrtis  in  mid-ocean.  But 
whither  do  you  bid  me  shape  our  course,  and  with 
which  sheet  shall  the  canvas  be  stretched  ?  "  With 
unsettled  purpose,  Magnus  answered  him  thus  : 
"Wherever  we  sail,  be  this  your  only  care,  to  turn 
your  bark  ever  further  from  the  shore  of  Thessaly, 
and  to  leave  the  West  behind  in  sailing  and  steer- 
ing ;  all  else  trust  to  the  winds.  I  have  taken 
on  board  my  companion,  the  pledge  I  left  for  safety ; 
then  I  had  no  doubt  what  shore  to  make  for,  but 
now  chance  must  provide  a  harbour."  Thus  he 
spoke ;  and  the  steersman  tugged  at  the  sails  that 
hung  in  equal  lengths  from  the  level  yard-arms,  and 
turned  the  vessel  to  the  left ;  and,  that  she  might 
cleave  the  waves  made  rough  by  Chios  and  the 
rocks  of  Asina,^  he  slackened  the  ropes  at  the  bow 
and  made  tiut  those  at  the  stern. ^  The  sea  was 
conscious  of  the  movement  and  gave  a  different 
sound,  when  the  beak  cut  the  water  in  a  new 
direction  and  the  ship's  course  was  altered.  With 
less  skill  the  charioteer  makes  the  right  wheel  spin 
round  the  left,^  and  forces  his  car  close  to  the  turning- 
post  without  striking  it. 

The  sun  revealed  the  earth  and  veiled  the  stars. 
All  who  had  fled  far  and  wide  from  the  fatal  field 
of  Pharsalia  rallied  round  Magnus ;  first  to  meet 
him,  after  he  quitted  the  shore  of  Lesbos,  Avas  his 
son,*  and  next  came  his  loyal  band  of  senators ;  for 
even  when  cast  down  by  destiny  and  routed  in 
battle,  he  was  not  deprived  by  Fortune  of  kings  to 
serve  him :  the  exile  was  escorted  by  the  lords 
of  earth  and  the  monarchs  of  the  East.     Deiotarus, 

451 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Deiotarum,  qui  sparsa  ducis  vestigia  legit.  210 

"  Quando  "  ait  "  Emathiis  amissus  cladibus  orbis. 

Qua  Romanus  erat,  superest,  fidissime  regum, 

Eoam  temptare  fidem  populosque  bibentes 

Euphraten  et  adhuc  securum  a  Caesare  Tigrim. 

Ne  pigeat  Magno  quaerentem  fata  remotas  215 

Medorum  penetrare  domos  Scythicosque  recessus 

Et  totum  mutare  diem,  vocesque  superbo 

Arsacidae  perferre  meas  :  *  Si  foedera  nobis 

Prisca  manent  mihi  per  Latium  iurata  Tonantem, 

Per  vestros  astricta  magos,  inplete  pharetras  220 

Armeniosque  arcus  Geticis  intendite  nervis. 

Si  vos,  o  Partbi,  petereni  cum  Caspia  claustra 

Et  sequerer  duros  aeterni  Martis  Alanos, 

Passus  Achaemeniis  late  decurrere  cam  pis 

In  tutam  trepidos  numquam  Babylona  coegi.  225 

Arva  super  Cyri  Ciialdaeique  ultima  regni 

Qua  rapidus  Ganges  et  qua  Nysaeus  Hydaspes 

Accedunt  pelago,  Phoebi  surgentis  ab  igne 

lam  propior  quam  Persis  eram  :  tamen  omnia  vincens 

Sustinui  nostris  vos  tantum  desse  triumphis,  230 

Solusque  e  numero  regum  telluris  Eoae 

Ex  aequo  me  Parthus  adit.     Nee  munere  Magni 

Stant  semel  Arsacidae ;  quis  enim  post  volnera  cladis 

Assyriae  iustas  Latii  conpescuit  iras  ? 

Tot  meritis  obstricta  meis  nunc  Parthia  ruptis  235 

Excedat  claustris  vetitam  per  saecula  ripam 


^  A  compact  epigram  :  loyalty  is  due  from  subjects  to  kings, 
but  the  Eastern  kings  were  Ponipey's  subjects.  This  mission  of 
Deiotarus  must  have  been  invented  by  Lucan. 

*  Arsaces  XIII  was  then  king  of  the  Paithiaus  who  are  here 
and  often  called  "  Medea  " 

*  See  n.  to  i    I  ' 

*  Carrhae,  53  a.o. 

452 


BOOK    VIII 

who  had  tracked  his  leader  through  his  wanderings, 
he  bade  repair  to  the  ends  of  tiie  earth.  ^' Since/' 
said  he  "  the  world,  so  far  as  it  was  Roman,  has  been 
lost  by  the  disaster  of  Pharsalia,  it  remains,  O  most 
loyal  of  my  kings,^  to  test  the  allegiance  of  the 
East,  of  the  nations  who  drink  the  Euphrates  and 
the  Tigris,  rivers  as  yet  unmolested  by  Caesar. 
Seeking  success  for  me,  refuse  not  to  explore  the 
distant  home  of  the  Medes  and  remote  Scythia ;  be 
willing  to  change  your  clime  completely,  and  bear 
to  the  proud  scion  of  Arsaces  ^  this  message  from 
me  :  *  If  our  ancient  treaty  holds  good — the  treaty 
which  I  swore  to  observe  in  the  name  of  the  Roman 
Thunderer,  and  which  was  made  fast  by  your  Wise 
Men — then  fill  full  your  quivers,  and  stretch  the 
bows  of  Armenia  with  the  strings  of  the  Getae  ;  for, 
when  I  marched  towards  the  Caspian  Gates  and 
pursued  the  hardy  Alani,  ever  at  war,  I  suffered  the 
Parthian s  to  ride  at  will  over  the  Persian  plains  and 
never  forced  them  to  take  hasty  refuge  in  Babylon.^ 
I  passed  the  realm  of  Cyrus  and  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  Chaldean  kingdom,  where  the  impetuous 
Ganges  and  Nysaeaii  Hydaspes  join  the  sea  ;  and 
I  was  nearer  to  the  flame  of  the  rising  sun  than 
Persia  is ;  though  I  was  everywhere  victorious,  I 
forbore  to  add  the  Parthians,  and  them  alone,  to 
the  list  of  my  triumphs ;  and,  alone  among  the 
kings  of  the  East,  the  Parthian  approached  me  on 
equal  terms.  And  a  second  time,  thanks  to  me, 
the  sons  of  Arsaces  were  saved.  For  who  else 
curbed  the  righteous  anger  of  Rome  that  followed 
the  blow  of  the  defeat  in  Assyria  ?  *  Now  let 
Parthia,  bound  by  so  many  benefits  from  me,  burst 
her  bounds,  to  cross  the  bank  forbidden  for  many 

453 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Zeugmaque  Pellaeum.     Pompeio  vincite,  Parthi, 

Vinci  Roma  volet.'  "     Regem  parere  iubenti 

Ardua  non  piguit,  positisque  insignibus  aulae 

Egreditur  famulo  raptos  indutus  amictus.  240 

In  dubiis  tutum  est  inopem  simulare  tyranno  ; 

Quanto  igitur  mundi  dominis  seeurius  aevum 

Verus  pauper  agit !     Dimisso  in  litore  rege 

Ipse  per  Icariae  scopulos,  Ephesonque  relinquens 

Et  placidi  Colophona  maris,  spumantia  parvae  246 

Radit  saxa  Sami ;  spirat  de  litore  Coo 

Aura  fluens  ;  Cnidon  inde  fugit  claramque  relinquit 

Sole  Rliodon  magnosque  sinus  Telmessidos  undae 

Conpensat  medio  pelagi.     Pamphylia  puppi 

Occurrit  tellus,  nee  se  committere  muris  260 

Ausus  adliuc  ullis,  te  primum,  parva  Phaseli, 

Magnus  adit ;  nam  te  metui  vetat  incola  rarus 

Exhaustaeque  domus  populis,  maiorque  carinae 

Quam  tua  turba  fuit.     Tendens  hinc  carbasa  rursus 

lam  Taurum  Tauroque  videt  Dipsunta  cadentem.       266 

Crederet  hoc  Magnus,  pacem  cum  praestitit  undis, 
Et  sibi  consultum  ?     Cilicum  per  litora  tutus 
Parva  puppe  fugit.     Sequitur  pars  magna  senatus 
Ad  profugum  collecta  ducem  ;  parvisque  Syhedris, 
Quo  portu  mittitque  rates  recipitque  Selinus,  260 

In  procerum  coetu  tandem  maesta  ora  resolvit 
Vocibus  his  Magnus  :  "  Comites  bellique  fugaeque 


Over  the  Euphrates. 
They  had  gone  to  the  war. 
Perhaps  the  name  of  a  waterfall. 
By  suppressing  piracy. 


454 


1 


BOOK   VIII        J.: 

centuries  and  pass  the  Bridge  of  Alexander.^  If 
the  Parthians  conquer  for  Pompey's  sake,  Rome 
will  welcome  her  conqueror.'  "  Hard  was  the  task 
enjoined,  but  the  king  did  not  refuse ;  he  laid  aside 
the  badges  of  royalty  and  left  the  ship,  wearing 
garments  taken  in  haste  from  a  menial.  In  danger 
a  king  finds  safety  in  the  disguise  of  a  beggar  ;  how 
much  safer  then  is  the  lot  of  the  really  poor  man 
than  that  of  the  lords  of  earth  !  The  king  was  set 
ashore ;  and  Pompey  himself  sailed  past  the  rocks 
of  Icaria,  and  skirted  the  foaming  cliffs  of  little 
Samos,  shunning  Ephesus  and  Colophon  with  their 
calm  waters  ;  the  breeze  blew  fresh  from  the  shore 
of  Cos  ;  next  he  avoided  Cnidos  and  Rhodes,  famous 
island  of  the  sun,  and  shortened  the  long  circuit 
of  the  bay  of  Telmessus  by  keeping  the  open  sea. 
The  land  of  Pamphylia  now  confronted  his  vessel  ; 
so  far  he  had  not  dared  to  trust  himself  to  any  city, 
but  now  he  entered  the  walls  of  little  Phaselis  ;  for 
she  was  robbed  of  her  terrors  by  her  scanty  popula- 
tion, and  her  houses  were  drained  of  their  inhabi- 
tants ;  2  there  were  more  men  on  board  the  ship 
than  in  all  the  town.  From  hence  he  set  sail  again, 
and  soon  came  in  view  of  Mount  Taurus  and  Dipsus  ^ 
falling  down  the  mountain-side. 

Could  Magnus  have  believed,  when  he  gave  peace 
to  the  sea,*  that  he  would  profit  by  it  himself.'* 
Now  he  flees  unharmed  along  the  coast  of  the 
pirates  in  his  little  vessel.  He  was  followed  by  a 
number  of  senators  who  rallied  round  their  fugitive 
leader  ;  and  at  little  Syhedra — the  harbour  which 
sends  forth  and  receives  again  the  ships  of  Selinus — 
Magnus  at  last  opened  his  sorrowful  lips  at  a 
meeting  of  the  nobles,  and  spoke  thus  :  "  Comrades 

455 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Atque  instar  patriae,  quamvis  in  litore  nudo. 

In  Cilicum  terra,  nullis  circumdatus  armis 

Consultem  rebusque  novis  exordia  quaeram,  265 

Ingentes  praestate  animos.     Non  omnis  in  arvis 

Emathiis  cecidi,  nee  sic  mea  fata  premuntur, 

Ut  nequeam  relevare  caput  cladesque  recej)tas 

Excutere.     An  Libycae  Marium  potuere  ruinae 

Erigere  in  fasces  et  plenis  reddere  fastis,  270 

Me  pulsum  leviore  manu  fortuna  tenebit? 

Mille  meae  Graio  volvuntur  in  aequore  puppes, 

Mille  duces  ;  sparsit  potius  Pharsalia  nostras 

Quam  subvertit  opes.     Sed  me  vel  sola  tueri 

Fama  potest  rerum,  toto  quas  gessimus  orbe,  276 

Et  nomen,  quod  mundus  amat.     Vos  pendite  regna 

Viribus  atque  fide  Libyam  Parthosque  Pharonque, 

Queinnam  Roraanis  deceat  succurrere  rebus. 

Ast  ego  curarum  vobis  arcana  mearum 

Expromam  mentisque  meae  quo  pondera  vergant.      280 

Aetas  Niliaci  nobis  suspecta  tyranni  est, 

Ardua  quippe  fides  robustos  exigit  annos. 

Hinc  anceps  dubii  terret  sollertia  Mauri ; 

Namque  memor  generis  Carthaginis  inj^ia  proles 

Inminet  Hesperiae,  multusque  in  pectore  vano  est    285 

Hannibal,  obliquo  maculat  qui  sanguine  regnum 

Et  Numidas  contingit  avos.      lam  supplice  Varo 

Intumuit  viditque  loco  Romana  secundo. 


1  Comp.  ii.  91  f. 

*  Piolemy  XII  was  thirteen  at  this  time. 

'  Juba,  king  of  Numidia,  who,  according  to  Lucan,  hoped  to 
be  a  second  Hannibal. 

*  Juba's  ancestor,  Masinissa,  married  the  Carthaginian 
Sophonisba,  daughter  of  a  Hasdru^al  (who  may  have  been  related 
to  Hannibal),  but  she  had  no  children  by  him. 

456 


BOOR   VIII 

in  battle  and  in  flight,  you  who  represent  our 
country,  though  I,  who  ask  your  counsel  and  seek 
to  set  a  new  enterprise  on  foot,  stand  here  on  a 
barren  shore  in  the  land  of  Cilicia,  and  have  no 
armies  round  me,  yet  hear  me  with  proud  hearts. 
I  did  not  fall  for  ever  on  the  field  of  Pharsalia ;  nor 
has  my  destiny  sunk  so  low  that  I  can  never  again 
raise  my  head  and  shake  off  the  defeat  I  have 
suffered.  If  the  ruins  of  Carthage  could  raise 
Marius  ^  to  office  and  replace  him  in  the  Calendar, 
full  already  of  his  name,  shall  Fortune  keep  me 
down,  whom  she  has  smitten  with  a  lighter  blow  ? 
Mine  are  a  thousand  ships  that  toss  on  Grecian 
waters,  and  mine  a  thousand  leaders ;  Pharsalia 
scattered  my  resources  but  did  not  overthrow  them. 
If  it  had,  I  could  find  safety  merely  in  the  fame 
of  the  mighty  deeds  I  wrought  over  all  the  earth, 
and  in  that  name  which  the  whole  world  loves.  It 
is  for  you  to  weigh  well  the  kingdoms  in  point  of 
strength  and  loyalty — Libya,  Parthia,  and  Egypt-  - 
and  to  decide  who  may  with  honour  retrieve  the 
fortunes  of  Rome.  But  I  will  unveil  to  you  my 
own  secret  thoughts  and  the  purpose  to  which 
the  balance  of  my  mind  inclines.  I  mistrust  the 
youth  of  the  Egyptian  king  ;  ^  for  dangerous  loyalty 
requires  the  years  of  manhood.  Next,  I  fear  the 
Si' two-faced  cunning  of  the  fickle  Moor;^  for  that 
impious  son  of  Carthage,  mindful  of  his  pedigree, 
threatens  Italy,  and  his  empty  head  is  full  of 
Hannibal — Hannibal,  who  by  collateral  descent  dis- 
graces the  dynasty  and  is  related  to  his  Numidian 
ancestors.*  Already,  when  Varus  begged  his  aid, 
;  Juba  swelled  with  pride  to  see  Rome  take  the 
second    place.     Therefore,   my  companions,   let    us 

457 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Quare  a^te  Eoum,  comites,  properemus  in  orbem. 

Dividit  Euphrates  ingentem  gurgite  miindum,  290 

Caspiaque  iiimensos  seducunt  claustra  recessus, 

Et  polus  Assyrias  alter  noctesque  diesque 

Vertitj  et  abruptum  est  nostro  7nare  discolor  unda 

Oceanusque  suus.      Pugnandi  ^  sola  voluptas. 

Celsior  in  campo  sonipes  et  fortior  arcus,  295 

Nee  puer  aut  senior  letales  tendere  nervos 

Segnis,  et  a  nulla  mors  est  incerta  sagitta. 

Primi  Pellaeas  arcu  fregere  sarisas 

Bactraque,  Medorum  sedem,  murisque  superbam 

Assyrias  Babylona  domos.      Nee  pila  timentur  300 

Nostra  nimis  Parthis,  audentque  in  bella  venire 

Experti  Scythicas  Crasso  pereunte  pharetras. 

Spicula  nee  solo  spargunt  fidentia  ferro, 

Stridula  sed  multo  saturantur  tela  veneno; 

Volnera  parva  nocent,  fatumque  in  sanguine  summo  est. 

O  utinam  non  tanta  mihi  fiducia  saevis  306 

Esset  in  Arsacidis  !  fatis  nimis  aemula  nostris 

Fata  movent  Medos,  multumque  in  gente  deorum  est. 

EfFundam  populos  alia  tellure  revolsos 

Excitosque  suis  inmittam  sedibus  ortus.  310 

Quod  si  nos  Eoa  fides  et  barbara  fallent 

Foedera,  volgati  supra  commercia  mundi 

Naufragium  fortuna  ferat  :  non  regna  preeabor. 

Quae  feci.     Sat  magna  feram  solacia  mortis 

Orbe  iacens  alio,  nihil  haec  in  membra  cruente,  316 

*  Pugnandi  Quietus :  Regnandi  M88. 


^  The  Persian  Gulf  seems  to  be  confused  with  the  Red  Sea. 
*  The  soldiers  of  the  Macedonian  phalanx  were  armed  with 
the  sarisa^  a  long  pike. 

458 


BOOK    VIII 

be  up  and  hasten  to  the  Eastern  cHme.  The  waters 
of  the  Euphrates  shut  off  from  us  a  mighty  world, 
and  the  Caspian  Gates  hide  boundless  solitudes ;  in 
Assyria  a  different  hemisphere  makes  the  changes 

h-  of  night  and  day ;  they  have  an  ocean  of  their  own, 
and  a  sea  severed  from  ours  and  unlike  in  the 
colour  of  its  water.^  Their  one  passion  is  for  war. 
Tall  is  their  warhorse  on  the  plain,  and  strong  their 
bow ;  youth  and  age  are  quick  to  stretch  the  deadly 

It  string,  and  death  follows  sure  from  every  shaft. 
Their  archers  were  the  first  to  break  the  Macedonian 
phalanx,^  and  they  took  Bactra,  the  seat  of  the 
Medes,  and  Babylon,  the  city  of  Assyria,  with  her 
proud  walls.  Nor  is  the  Roman  javelin  much 
dreaded  by  the  Parthians ;  but  they  come  boldly 
to  battle,  having  proved  their  Scythian  quivers  on 
the  day  when  Crassus  fell.  And  the  shafts  which 
they  shower  do  not  depend  on  steel  alone,  but  their 
hurtling  missiles  are  thoroughly  steeped  in  poison. 

^  Even  a  slight  wound  is  fatal,  and  death  is  in  a  mere 
scratch.  (Would  that  my  belief  in  the  power  of  the 
cruel  sons  of  Arsaces  were  not  so  strong !  The 
destiny  which  controls  the  Medes  rivals  too  closely 
that  of  Rome,  and  their  nation  is  greatly  blessed 

t>i  of  Heaven.)  1  shall  pour  forth  nations  uprooted 
from  another  land  ;  I  shall  summon  all  the  East 
from  its  habitations  and  hurl  it  against  my  foe. 
But  if  the  loyalty  of  the  East  and  my  treaty  with 
the  barbarians  shall  fail  me,  then  let  chance  bear 
my  shattered  fortunes  beyond  the  trodden  high- 
ways of  the  world.  I  will  not  sue  to  the  kings  I 
made.  If  I  fall  at  the  end  of  the  earth,  this  wilj 
be  sufficient  consolation  for  my  death,  that  Caesar 
has  been  guilty  of  no  outrage  against  my  corpse, 

459 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nil  socerum  fecisse  pie.     Sed  cuncta  revolvens 
Vitae  fata  meae,  semper  veiierabilis  ilia 
Orbis  parte  fui,  quantus  Maeotida  supra, 
Quantus  apud  Tanaim  toto  conspectus  in  ortu  ! 
Quas  magis  in  terras  nostrum  felicibus  actis  320 

Nomen  abit,  aut  unde  redi  ^  maiore  triumplio  ? 
Roma,  fave  coeptis ;  quid  enim  tibi  laetius  umquam 
Praestiterint  superi,  quam,  si  civilia  Partho 
Milite  bella  geras,  tantam  consumere  gentem 
Et  nostris  miscere  mails  ?     Cum  Caesaris  arma  326 

Concurrent  Medis,  aut  me  fortuna  necesse  est 
Vindicet  aut  Crassos."     Sic  fatus  murmure  sensit 
Consilium  damnasse  viros  ;  quos  Lentulus  omnes 
Virtutis  stimulis  et  nobilitate  dolendi 
Praecessit  dignasque  tulit  modo  consule  voces  :  330 

"  Sicine  Thessalicae  mentem  fregere  ruinae  ? 
Una  dies  mundi  damnavit  fata  ?  secundum 
Emathiam  lis  tanta  datur  ?  iacet  omne  cruenti 
Volneris  auxilium  ?  solos  tibi,  Magne,  reliquit 
Parthorum  fortuna  pedes  ?  quid  transfuga  mundi,       336 
Terrarum  totos  tractus  caelumque  perosus, 
Aversosque  polos  alienaque  sidera  quaeris, 
Chaldaeos  culture  focos  et  barbara  sacra, 
Parthorum  famulus  ?  quid  causa  obtenditur  armis 
Libertatis  amor  ?  miserum  quid  decipis  orbem,  340 

Si  servire  potes  ?  te,  quem  Romana  regentem 
Horruit  auditu,  quem  captos  ducere  reges 
Vidit  ab  Hyrcanis,  Indoque  a  litore,  silvis, 

*  redi  Lachmann :  redit  MSS. 

*  Funeral  rites,   if  performed  by  Caesar,   would  be  only  a 
crowning  insult. 

*  In  49  B.C.     Heitland  describes  this  speech  as  "good  of  its 
kind  but  too  long  by  half." 

460 


BOOK   VIII 

and  guilty  of  no  respect.^  But  when  I  review  the 
whole  story  of  my  life,  I  was  ever  worshipful  in 
that  Eastern  world :  how  great  was  I  beyond  the 
Maeotian  Mere  and  by  the  Tanais,  the  cynosure  of  all 
the  East !  Into  no  lands  did  my  name  go  forth  with 
more  glorious  exploits,  and  from  none  did  I  return 
more  triumphant.  Rome,  smile  on  my  enterprise ! 
for  no  greater  boon  can  Heaven  confer  on  you 
than  that  you  should  use  Parthians  to  fight  your 
civil  wars,  and  so  destroy  that  great  nation  and 
make  them  share  our  calamities.  When  Caesar's 
armies  clash  with  the  Medes,  the  issue  must  avenge 
either  me  or  the  Crassi."  Thus  he  spoke ;  but  he 
perceived  by  their  muttering  that  the  meeting  had 
condemned  his  plan.  Lentulus  was  superior  to 
them  all  in  keen  sense  of  honour  and  generous 
indignation  ;  and  thus  he  spoke  in  terms  befitting 
one  who  had  just  been  consul  :  ^  "  Has  the  defeat 
of  Pharsalia  so  utterly  broken  your  spirit  ?  Has  a 
single  day  fixed  the  world's  destiny  }  Is  the  mighty 
issue  to  be  decided  by  the  result  of  Pharsalia  ?  Is 
all  cure  for  our  bleeding  wound  impossible  ?  Plas 
Fortune  left  you  no  course,  Magnus,  save  to  fall 
5(^;  at  the  Parthians'  feet  ?  Why  do  you  fly  from  our 
world,  and  shun  whole  regions  of  earth  and  sky  ? 
why  seek  a  heaven  turned  from  ours  and  foreign 
stars,  in  order  to  worship  Chaldaean  fires  with 
savage  rites,  and  to  serve  Parthians  }  Why  was  the 
love  of  freedom  put  forward  as  the  pretext  of  war  ? 
Why  thus  deceive  a  suffering  world,  if  you  can 
stoop  to  be  a  slave  to  any  ?  The  Parthian  king 
heard  your  name  and  trembled  when  you  were 
ruler  of  Rome,  and  saw  you  lead  kings  captive  from 
the  Hyrcanian  forests  and  Indian  shores;  shall  he 

461 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Deiectum  fatis,  humilem  fractumque  videbit 

Rex  tolletque  ^  animos  Latium  vaesanus  in  orbem      345 

Se  simul  et  Romam  Pompeio  supplice  mensus  ? 

Nil  animis  fatisque  tuis  effabere  dignum  : 

Exiget  ignorans  Latiae  commercia  linguae, 

Ut  lacrimis  se,  Magne,  roges.     Patimurne  pudoris 

Hoc  volnus,  clades  ut  Parthia  vindicet  ante  350 

Hesperias^  quam  Roma  suas  ?  civilibus  armis 

Elegit  te  nempe  ducem  :  quid  volnera  nostra 

In  Scythicos  spargis  populos  cladesque  latentes  ? 

Quid  Parthos  transire  doces  ?  solacia  tanti 

Perdit  Roma  mali,  nullos  admittere  reges  355 

Sed  civi  servire  suo.     luvat  ire  per  orbem 

Ducentem  saevas  Romana  in  moenia  gentes 

Signaque  ab  Euphrate  cum  Crassis  capta  sequentem  ? 

Qui  solus  regum  fato  celante  favorem 

Defuit  Emathiae,  nunc  tantas  ille  lacesset  360 

Auditi  victoris  opes  aut  iungere  fata 

Tecum,  Magne,  volet?     Non  haec  fiducia  genti  est. 

Omnis  in  Arctois  populus  quicumque  pruinis 

Nascitur,  indomitus  bellis  et  mortis  amator  : 

Quidquid  ad  Eoos  tractus  mundique  teporem  365 

Ibitur,  emoUit  gentes  dementia  caeli. . 

Illic  et  laxas  vestes  et  fluxa  virorum 

Velamenta  vides.     Parthus  per  Medica  rura, 

Sarmaticos  inter  campos  effusaque  piano 

Tigridis  arva  solo,  nulli  superabilis  hosti  est  370 

^  Rex  tolletque  Housman  :  Extolletque  M8S. 

^  The  battle  of  Pharsalia  :  there  is  no  reference  to  Carrbae. 
462 


BOOK    VIII 

now  see  you  cast  down  by  destiny _,  a  beaten,  broken 
man,  and  raise  his  mad  ambition  against  the  Roman 
world,  measuring  himself  and  Rome  together  by  the 
prayers  of  Pompey  ?  You  will  utter  nothing  worthy 
of  your  pride  and  past  history ;  unskilled  to  com- 
municate in  the  Latin  tongue,  he  will  require  you, 
Magnus,  to  appeal  to  him  by  your  tears.  Must  we 
endure  this  stain  upon  our  honour,  that  Parthia 
shall  forestall  Rome  in  avenging  Rome's  own  disaster 
in  the  West  ?  ^  Rome  chose  you  surely  as  a  leader 
for  civil  war  only :  why  do  you  publish  among  the 
Scythian  nations  our  mutual  sufferings  and  disasters, 
of  which  they  were  ignorant  ?  Why  do  you  teach 
the  Parthians  to  cross  the  Euphrates  ?  Thus  Rome 
loses  the  one  mitigation  of  her  great  suffering — that 
she  submits  to  no  foreign  ruler  but  owns  a  son 
of  her  own  as  master.  Does  it  please  you  to  march 
across  the  world  against  the  walls  of  Rome,  with 
savage  nations  at  your  back,  and  preceded  by  the 
standards  taken  together  with  the  Crassi  at  the 
Euphrates?  One  king  alone  was  absent  from 
Pharsalia,  while  Fortune  still  concealed  her  pre- 
ference ;  and  will  he  now  challenge  the  mighty 
strength  of  the  conqueror  when  he  hears  tidings 
of  his  triumph  ?  Will  he  now  be  willing  to  make 
common  cause  with  you  ?  Such  self-reliance  does 
not  belong  to  that  people.  Every  native  of  the 
Northern  snows  is  vehement  in  war  and  courts 
death  ;  but  every  step  you  go  towards  the  East 
and  the  torrid  zone,  the  people  grow  softer  as  the 
sky  grows  kinder.  There  one  sees  loose  garments 
and  flowing  robes  worn  even  by  men.  In  the 
smiling  land  of  Media,  amid  the  plains  of  Sarmatia, 
and  in  the  level  lands  that  extend  by  the  Tigris, 

463 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Libertate  fugae  ;  sed  non,  ubi  terra  tumebit, 

Aspera  conscendet  mentis  iuga,  nee  per  opacas 

Bella  geret  tenebras  incerto  debilis  arcu. 

Nee  franget  nando  violent!  vorticis  amnem. 

Nee  tota  in  pugna  perfusus  sanguine  membra  375 

Exiget  aestivum  calido  sub  pulvere  solem. 

Non  aries  illis,  non  uUa  est  machina  belli, 

Aut  fossas  inplere  valent,  Parthoque  sequent! 

Murus  erit  quodcumque  potest  obstare  sagittae. 

Pugna  levis  bellumque  fugax  turmaeque  vagantes,     380 

Et  ihelior  cessisse  loco  quam  pellere  miles  ; 

Inlita  tela  dolis,  nee  Martem  comminus  usquam 

Ansa  pat!  virtus,  sed  longe  tendere  nervos 

Et,  quo  ferre  velint,  permittere  volnera  ventis. 

Ensis  habet  vires,  et  gens  quaecumque  virorum  386 

Bella  gerit  gladiis.     Nam  Medos  proelia  prima 

Exarmant  vacuaque  iubent  remeare  pharetra. 

Nulla  manus  illis,  fiducia  tota  veneni  est. 

Credis,  Magne,  viros,  quos  in  discrimina  belli 

Cum  ferro  misisse  parum  est  ?  temptare  pudendum    390 

Auxilium  tanti  est,  toto  divisus  ut  orbe 

A  terra  moriare  tua,  tibi  barbara  tell  us 

Incumbat,  te  parva  tegant  ac  vilia  busta, 

Invidiosa  tamen  Crasso  quaerente  sepulchrum  ? 

Sed  tua  sors  levior,  quoniam  mors  ultima  poena  est  395 

Nee  metuenda  viris.     At  non  Cornelia  letum 

^  Due  to  ravines  or  woods,  not  the  darkness  of  night. 
464 


BOOK    VIII 

the  Parthian  cannot  be  conquered  by  any  foe, 
because  he  has  room  for  flight ;  but,  where  earth 
rises  in  hills,  he  will  never  climb  the  rough  mountain 
ridges,  nor  fight  on  through  thick  darkness  ^  when 
crippled  by  the  failure  of  his  bow,  nor  stem  a  river 
in  fierce  eddy  by  swimming ;  nor,  when  every  limb 
is  drenched  in  blood  of  battle,  will  he  endure  the 
long  summer  day  beneath  the  stifling  dust.  They 
have  no  battering-rams  and  no  war-engines  of  any 
kind,  and  no  strength  to  level  ditches  ;  but  any 
defence  that  can  keep  out  an  arrow  will  be  a  wall 
against  pursuing  Parthians.  Their  battle  is  a  skir- 
mish, they  flee  while  fighting,  their  squadrons  rove 
at  large.  Their  soldiers  are  more  swift  to  yield 
their  own  ground  than  to  dislodge  the  foe  from  his. 
Their  missiles  are  smeared  with  guile ;  their  valour 
nowhere  dares  to  face  the  enemy  at  close  quarters, 
but  only  to  draw  the  bow  at  a  distance  and  suffer 
the  winds  to  carry  their  weapons  whither  they  will. 
Strength  belongs  to  the  sword,  and  every  manly 
race  uses  cold  steel  to  fight  with.  But  the  first 
hour  of  battle  disarms  the  Parthians  and  bids  them 
retreat  with  emptied  quivers.  All  their  reliance  is 
on  poison,  and  none  on  the  strong  hand.  Do  you 
count  those  as  men,  Magnus,  who  are  not  content 
to  face  the  risk  of  battle  with  the  steel  alone  ?  Is 
it  worth  your  while  to  seek  a  shameful  alliance, 
in  order  that  you  may  die  parted  by  the  whole 
world  from  your  country,  that  foreign  earth  may 
rest  upon  your  bones,  that  a  tomb  may  cover  you, 
poor  indeed  and  petty,  but  yet  shameful  while 
Crassus  seeks  burial  in  vain  ?  But  your  lot  is  easier, 
since  death,  the  utmost  penalty,  is  not  terrible  to 
the  brave.     But  death  is  not  what  Cornelia  has  to 

465 

VOL.  I.  Q 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Infando  sub  rege  timet.     Num  barbara  nobis 

Est  ignota  Venus,  quae  ritu  caeca  ferarum 

Polluit  innumeris  leges  et  foedera  taedae 

Coniugibus,  thalamique  patent  secreta  nefandi  400 

Inter  mille  nurus  ?     Epulis  vaesana  meroque 

Regia  non  ullis  exceptos  legibus  audet 

Concubitus  :  tot  femineis  conplexibus  unum 

Non  lassat  nox  tota  marem.     lacuere  sorores 

In  regum  thalamis  sacrataque  pignora  matres.  405 

Damnat  apud  gentes  sceleris  non  sponte  peracti 

Oedipodionias  infelix  fabula  Thebas  : 

Parthorum  dominus  quotiens  sic  sanguine  mixto 

Nascitur  Arsacides !  cui  fas  inplere  parentem. 

Quid  rear  esse  nefas?     Proles  tam  clara  Metelli         410 

Stabit  barbarico  coniunx  millesima  lecto. 

Quamquam  non  ulli  plus  regia,  Magne,  vacabit 

Saevitia  stimulata  Venus  titulisque  virorum ; 

Nam,  quo  plura  iuvent  Parthum  portenta,  fuisse 

Hanc  sciet  et  Crassi ;  ceu  pridem  debita  fatis  416 

Assyriis  trahitur  cladis  captiva  vetustae. 

Haereat  Eoae  volnus  miserabile  sortis, 

Non  solum  auxilium  funesto  ab  rege  petisse 

Sed  gessisse  prius  bellum  civile  pudebit. 

Nam  quod  apud  populos  crimen  socerique  tuumque   420 

Maius  erit,  quam  quod  vobis  miscentibus  arma 


1  Because  too  monstrous  to  be  included :   thus  Solon  framed 
no  law  against  parricide. 
'  Carrhae. 

466 


BOOK    VIII 

fear  in  the  power  of  that  infamous  king.  Are  we 
ignorant  of  that  barbarous  lust,  which  in  the  blind 
fashion  of  beasts  defiles  the  binding  sanctities  of 
marriage  with  a  myriad  wives,  and  in  which  the 
secrets  of  the  infamous  bridal-chamber  are  dis- 
played in  the  presence  of  a  thousand  women  ?  The 
king,  maddened  with  feasting  and  wine,  ventures 
on  unions  that  no  laws  have  ever  specified  ;  ^  a 
single  male  is  not  exhausted  by  a  whole  night  spent 
in  the  arms  of  so  many  concubines.  Their  own 
sisters  lie  on  the  couches  of  the  kings,  and,  for  all 
the  sanctity  of  the  relation,  their  own  mothers. 
Thebes,  the  city  of  Oedipus,  is  condemned  in  the 
eyes  of  mankind  by  the  gloomy  legend  of  the  crime 
which  he  committed  unwittingly :  how  often  an 
Arsaces  is  born  from  such  a  union  to  rule  the 
Parthians  I  What  can  I  consider  unpermitted  to 
one  who  permits  himself  to  beget  children  by  his 
mother  ?  The  noble  daughter  of  Metellus  will  wait 
by  the  bed  of  the  barbarian,  one  among  a  thousand 
wives.  And  yet,  Magnus,  tlie  king's  lust  will  be 
devoted  to  her  more  than  to  any  other,  for  it  will 
be  heated  by  cruelty  and  by  the  fame  of  her 
husbands.  For,  to  heighten  the  horrid  pleasure 
of  the  Parthian,  he  will  know  that  she  was  once  the 
wife  of  Crassus  also  :  as  if  long  due  to  the  doom 
of  Carrhae,  she  will  be  carried  off  as  a  captive  taken 
in  the  defeat  of  long  ago.  If  the  pitiful  disaster  ^ 
which  we  suffered  in  the  East  rankles  in  your  heart, 
you  will  blush,  not  only  to  beg  help  from  the  death- 
dealing  king,  but  also  to  have  made  war  on  Romans 
before  Parthians.  What  greater  reproach  will  the 
world  bring  against  you  and  Caesar  than  this — that, 
when  you  twa  meet  in  conflict,  vengeance  for  the 

467 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Crassorum  vindicta  perit  ?     Incurrere  ciincti 

Debuerant  in  Bactra  duces  et,  ne  qua  vacarent 

Arma,  vel  Arctoum  Dacis  Rhenique  catervis 

Imperii  nudare  latus,  dum  perfida  Susa  42? 

In  tumulos  prolapsa  ducum  Babylonque  iaceret. 

Assyriae  paci  finem,  Fortuna,  precamur  ; 

Et,  si  Thessalia  bellum  civile  peractum  est. 

Ad  Parthos,  qui  vicit,  eat.     Gens  unica  mundi  est, 

De  qua  Caesareis  possim  gaudere  triumphis.  430 

Non  tibi,  cum  primum  gelidum  transibis  Araxen, 

Umbra  senis  maesti  Scythicis  confixa  sagittis 

Ingeret  has  voces  ?     '  Tu,  quern  post  funera  nostra 

Ultorera  cinerum  nudae  speravimus  umbrae, 

Ad  foedus  pacemque  venis  ?  '     Tum  plurima  cladis    436 

Occurrent  monimenta  tibi  :  quae  moenia  trunci 

Lustrarunt  cervice  duces,  ubi  nomina  tanta 

Obruit  Euphrates  et  nostra  cadavera  Tigris 

Detulit  in  terras  ac  reddidit.     Ire  per  ista 

Si  potes,  in  media  socerum  quoque,  Magne,  sedentem  440 

Thessalia  placare  potes.     Quin  respicis  orbem 

Romanum  ?  si  regna  times  proiecta  sub  Austro 

Infidumque  lubani,  petimus  Pharon  arvaque  Lagi. 

Syrtibus  hinc  Libycis  tuta  est  Aegyptos  ;  at  inde 

Gurgite  septeno  rapidus  mare  summovet  amnis.  445 

Terra  suis  contenta  bonis,  non  indiga  mercis 

Aut  lovis ;  in  solo  tanta  est  fiducia  Nilo. 

'^  Crassus. 

*  An  ill-timed  allusion  to  the  fact  mentioned  in  iii.  261  ff. 
'  Pharos  is  the  lighthouse  island  off  Alexandria  :  in  the  Latin 
poets  Phaiian  =  Egyptian.     For  Lagus,  see  n.  to  v.  00. 

468 


BOOK    VIII 

Crassi  has  been  forgotten?  All  our  leaders  should 
have  made  haste  to  Bactra ;  and,  that  every 
sword  might  be  engaged,  they  should  have  left 
the  northern  frontier  of  the  empire  exposed  to 
the  Dacians  and  the  hordes  of  the  Rhine,  until 
treacherous  Susa  and  Babylon  were  laid  in  ruins 
over  the  tombs  of  their  monarchs.  We  pray  to 
Fortune  that  peace  with  Assyria  may  end  ;  and  if 
the  civil  war  was  settled  by  Pharsalia,  let  it  be  the 
conqueror  who  goes  to  Parthia.  They  are  the  one 
nation  on  earth  whom  I  could  rejoice  to  see  Caesar 
triumph  over.  As  soon  as  you  cross  the  cold  Araxes, 
will  not  the  ghost  of  that  sorrowing  old  man,^ 
riddled  with  Scythian  arrows,  hurl  this  reproach 
upon  you  ?  '  We  unburied  ghosts  hoped  that  you 
would  come  after  our  death  to  avenge  our  ashes  : 
do  you  come  to  make  a  treaty  and  a  peace  ?  '  Next, 
memorials  of  the  defeat  will  crowd  upon  your  sight 
— the  walls,  round  which  the  headless  bodies  of 
our  generals  were  dragged  ;  the  place  where  the 
Euphrates  closed  over  such  famous  men,  and  the 
Tigris  carried  the  Roman  dead  underground  and 
then  restored  them  to  sight  again.^  If  you  can 
pass  through  these  scenes,  Magnus,  you  can  also 
sue  to  Caesar  enthroned  on  the  field  of  Pharsalia. 
Why  not  turn  your  eyes  to  the  Roman  world .''  If 
you  fear  faithless  Juba  and  his  realm  that  stretches 
far  to  the  South,  then  Pharos  and  the  land  of 
Lagus^  is  our  goal.  On  the  West  Egypt  is  pro- 
tected by  the  Libyan  Syrtes  ;  and  on  the  North 
the  rapid  river  with  its  seven  channels  drives  back 
the  sea  ;  rich  in  its  native  wealth,  the  land  has  no 
need  of  foreign  wares  or  of  Heaven's  rain,  so  great 
is  her  reliance  upon  the  Nile  alone.     The  sceptre 

469 


M.    ANNARUS   LUCANUS 

Sceptra  puer  Ptolemaeus  habet  tibi  debita,  Magne. 
Tutelae  commissa  tuae.     Quis  nominis  umbram 
Horreat  ?  innocua  est  aetas.     Ne  iura  fidemque  450 

Respectumque  deum  veteri  speraveris  aula  : 
Nil  pudet  adsuetos  sceptris  ;  mitissima  sors  est 
Regnorum  sub  rege  novo."     Non  plura  locutus 
Inpulit  hue  animos.     Quantum^  spes  ultima  rerum, 
Lil^ertatis  babes  !     Victa  est  sententia  Magni.  455 

Turn  Cilicum  liquere  solum  Cyproque  citatas 
Inmisere  rates,  nullas  cui  praetulit  aras 
Undae  diva  memor  Paphiae — si  numina  nasci 
Credimus  aut  quemquam  fas  est  coepisse  deorum. 
Haec  ubi  deseruit  Pompeius  litora,  totos  460 

p],mensus  Cypri  seopulos,  quibus  exit  in  Austrum, 
Inde  maris  vasti  transverse  vertitur  aestu ; 
Nee  tenuit  gratum  nocturne  lumine  montem, 
Infimaque  Aegypti  pugnaci  litora  velo 
Vix  tetigit,  qua  dividui  pars  maxima  Nili  466 

In  vada  decurrit  Pelusia  septimus  amnis. 
Tempus  erat,  quo  Libra  pares  examinat  horas, 
Non  uno  plus  aequa  die,  noctique  rependit 
Lux  minor  hibernae  verni  solacia  damni. 
Conperit  ut  regem  Casio  se  monte  tenere,  470 

Flectit  iter  ;  nee  Phoebus  adhuc  nee  carbasa  languent. 

lam  rapido  speculator  eques  per  litora  cursu 
Hospitis  adventu  pavidam  conpleverat  aulam. 

1  Aphrodite  (Venus),  when  born  from  the  sea  foam,  came  to 
Cyprus. 
*  Pharos. 
'  Most  easterly.     The  time  was  the  autumnal  equinox. 

470 


BOOK    VIII 

which  the  boy  Ptolemy  holds^  he  owes  to  you, 
Magnus ;  it  was  entrusted  to  your  guardianship. 
Who  would  dread  a  mere  empty  name?  His  is 
the  age  of  innocence  ;  look  not  for  friendship  or 
loyalty  or  fear  of  God  in  a  court  where  the  king 
has  long  reigned  ;  use  robs  kings  of  all  shame ;  the 
subjects'  yoke  is  lightest  where  their  king  is  new." 
Lentulus  said  no  more,  but  he  turned  all  minds  to 
his  view.  How  free  are  desperate  men  to  speak 
their  minds !     The  policy  of  Magnus  was  outvoted. 

Then  they  left  Cilician  soil  and  steered  their 
vessels  in  haste  for  Cyprus — Cyprus  which  the 
goddess/  mindful  of  the  Paphian  waves,  prefers  to 
any  of  her  shrines  (if  we  believe  that  deities  have 
birth,  or  if  it  is  lawful  to  hold  that  any  of  the  gods 
had  a  beginning).  When  Pompey  had  left  that 
shore,  having  sailed  past  the  long  line  of  cliffs  with 
which  Cyprus  projects  to  the  South,  from  there  he 
sailed  a  fresh  course  along  the  cross-current  of  the 
open  sea.  Unable  to  make  the  tower  ^  whose  light 
the  seaman  blesses  in  darkness,  with  difficulty  he 
reached  the  furthest  ^  shore  of  Egypt  with  battling 
sail,  where  the  largest  branch  of  the  divided  Nile, 
one  of  seven  rivers,  runs  out  to  the  shoals  of  Pelu- 
sium.  It  was  the  season  when  Libra  balances  the 
hours  of  day  and  night  in  equal  scales,  and  stays 
level  for  one  day  only ;  for  the  shortening  day 
makes  compensation  to  the  winter  nights  for  their 
loss  in  spring.  When  he  learnt  that  the  king  was 
encamped  on. Mount  Casius,  Pompey  bent  his  course 
thither ;  the  sun  was  not  yet  setting,  nor  the  sails 
flagging. 

By   now   a  mounted   watchman,  galloping  along 
the  shore,  had   filled  with  the  news  of  his  arrival 

471 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Consilii  vix  tempus  erat ;  tamen  omnia  monstra 

Pellaeae  coiere  domus,  quos  inter  Acoreus  475 

lam  placidus  senio  fractisque  modestior  annis 

—  Hunc  genuit  custos  Nili  crescentis  in  arva 

Memphis  vana  sacris  ;  illo  cultore  deorum 

Lustra  suae  Phoebes  non  unus  vixerat  Apis — 

Consilii  vox  prima  fuit,  meritumque  fidemque  480 

Sacraque  defuncti  iactavit  pignora  patris. 

Sed  melior  suadere  malis  et  nosse  tyrannos 

Ausus  Pompeium  leto  daranare  Pothinus 

''  lus  et  fas  multos  faciunt,  Ptolemaee,  nocentes  ; 

Dat  poenas  laudata  fides,  cum  sustinet/'  inquit  485 

"  Quos  fortuna  premit.     Fatis  accede  deisque, 

Et  cole  felices,  miseros  fuge.     Sidera  terra 

Ut  distant  et  flamma  mari,  sic  utile  recto. 

Sceptrorum  vis  tota  perit,  si  pendere  iusta 

Incipit,  evertitque  arces  respectus  honesti.  490 

Libertas  scelerum  est,  quae  regna  invisa  tuetur, 

Sublatusque  modus  gladiis.      Facere  omnia  saeve 

Non  inpune  licet,  nisi  cum  facis.     Exeat  aula. 

Qui  volt  esse  pius.     Virtus  et  summa  potestas 

Non  coeunt ;  semper  metuet,  quem  saeva  pudebunt.  495 

Non  inpune  tuos  Magnus  contempserit  annos. 

Qui  te  nee  victos  arcere  a  litore  nostro 

Posse  putat.     Neu  nos  sceptris  privaverit  hospes, 

^  There  was  a  Nilometer  at  Memphis. 

*  The  meaning  is,  more  than  one  period  of  25  years  :  the 
sacred  bull  called  Apis  was  not  allowed  to  live  longer  than  this 
period. 

3  Many  who  keep  these  laws  suffer  for  doing  so. 

472 


BOOK    VIII 

the  frightened  court.  There  was  scarce  time  to 
deliberate ;  yet  all  the  portentous  figures  of  the 
Macedonian  palace  assembled.  Among  them  was  Aco- 
reus,  made  mild  by  age  and  taught  moderation  by 
decrepitude.  Idolatrous  Memphis  gave  him  birth — 
Memphis  ^  which  measures  the  Nile  when  it  rises  to 
flood  the  fields ;  and  during  his  priesthood  more 
than  one  Apis  ^  had  lived  through  the  term  assigned 
him  by  the  Moon,  his  mistress.  He  spoke  first  at 
the  council,  dwelling  on  benefits  received  and 
loyalty  and  the  sacred  promises  of  the  dead 
monarch's  will.  But  there  was  one,  more  fit  to 
counsel  wicked  kings  and  know  their  heart,  and  a 
Pothinus  dared  to  sign  the  death-warrant  of  a 
Pompey.  He  said  :  "  Ptolemy,  the  laws  of  God 
and  man  make  many  guilty  ^  :  we  praise  loyalty, 
but  it  pays  the  price  when  it  supports  those  whom 
Fortune  crushes.  Take  the  side  of  destiny  and 
Heaven,  and  court  the  prosperous  but  shun  the 
afflicted.  Expediency  is  as  far  from  the  right  as  the 
stars  from  earth  or  fire  from  water.  The  power  of 
kings  is  utterly  destroyed,  once  they  begin  to  weigh 
considerations  of  justice  ;  and  regard  for  virtue 
levels  the  strongholds  of  tyrants.  It  is  boundless 
wickedness  and  unlimited  slaughter  that  protect 
the  unpopularity  of  a  sovereign.  If  all  your  deeds 
are  cruel,  you  will  suffer  for  it  the  moment  you 
cease  from  cruelty.  If  a  man  would  be  righteous, 
let  him  depart  from  a  court.  Virtue  is  incompatible 
with  absolute  power.  He  who  is  ashamed  to  commit 
cruelty  must  always  fear  it  Let  Magnus  suffer  for 
having  despised  your  youth  ;  he  thinks  you  cannot 
repel  even  a  beaten  man  from  our  coast.  And, 
that   a   stranger   may   not   rob   us   of    the  throne, 

473 


M.    ANNARUS   LUCANUS 

Pignora  sunt  propiora  tibi :  Nilumque  Pharonque, 
Si  regnare  piget,  damnatae  redde  sorori.  500 

Aegyptum  certe  Latiis  tueamur  ab  armis. 
Quidquid  non  fuerit  Magni,  dura  bella  geruntur, 
Nee  victoris  erit.     Toto  iam  pulsus  ab  orbe, 
Postquam  nulla  manet  rerum  fiducia,  quaerit, 
Cum  qua  gente  cadat.     Rapitur  civilibus  umbris.        605 
Nee  soceri  tantum  arma  fugit :  fugit  ora  senatus, 
Cuius  Thessalicas  saturat  pars  magna  volucres, 
Et  metuit  gentes,  quas  uno  in  sanguine  mixtas 
Deseruit,  regesque  timet,  quorum  omnia  mersit, 
Thessaliaeque  reus  nulla  tellure  receptus  610 

Sollicitat  nostrum,  quem  nondum  perdidit,  orbem. 
lustior  in  Magnum  nobis,  Ptolemaee,  querellae 
Causa  data  est.     Quid  sepositam  semperque  quietam 
Crimine  bellorum  maculas  Pharon  arvaque  nostra 
Victori  suspeeta  facis  ?  eur  sola  eadenti  515 

Haee  placuit  tell  us,  in  quam  Pharsalica  fata 
Conferres  poenasque  tuas  ?  iam  crimen  habemus 
Purgandum  gladio.     Quod  nobis  seeptra  senatus 
Te  suadente  dedit,  votis  tua  fovimus  arma. 
Hoc  ferrum,  quod  fata  iubent  proferre,  paravi  620 

Non  tibi,  sed  victo  ;  feriam  tua  viscera,  Magne, 
Malueram  soceri :  rapimur,  quo  cuncta  feruntur. 
Tene  mihi  dubitas  an  sit  violare  necesse. 


*  Cleopatra,  banished  by  Ptolemy. 
^  To  kill  Pompey. 

474 


BOOK    VIII 

remember  that  you  have  others  nearer  of  kin  ;  and, 
if  your  crown  is  uneasy,  restore  the  Nile  and  Pharos 
to  the  sister  ^  you  have  condemned.  Let  us  in  any 
case  protect  Egypt  from  the  arms  of  Rome.  What- 
ever did  not  belong  to  Pompey  during  the  war  will 
not  belong  to  Caesar  either.  Driven  from  all  the 
world,  with  no  reliance  left  upon  his  fortunes,  he 
seeks  a  people  to  share  his  fall.  He  is  dragged 
down  by  the  ghosts  of  those  who  fell  in  civil  war. 
It  is  not  merely  Caesar's  sword  that  he  flies  from  : 
he  flies  also  from  the  face  of  the  senators,  of  whom  so 
many  are  now  glutting  the  vultures  of  Thessaly  ;  he 
fears  the  foreign  nations,  whom  he  forsook  and  left 
weltering  in  blood  together;  he  dreads  the  kings, 
whose  all  he  destroyed ;  guilty  of  Pharsalia  and 
rejected  by  every  country,  he  troubles  our  realm 
which  he  has  not  yet  destroyed.  But  we,  Ptolemy, 
can  complain  more  justly  of  Pompey  than  he  of  us: 
why  does  he  stain  secluded  and  peace-loving  Pharos 
with  the  guilt  of  war  and  bring  down  Caesar's  dis- 
pleasure on  our  land  ?  Why  when  falling  did  he 
choose  this  country  of  all  others  to  bring  to  it  the 
curse  of  Pharsalia  and  the  punishment  which  he 
alone  should  pay?  Even  now  we  have  incurred 
guilt,  which  we  cannot  purge  away  except  by  using 
the  sword. 2  On  his  motion  the  Senate  granted  us 
the  sovereignty  of  Egypt,  and  therefore  we  prayed 
for  his  victory.  The  sword,  which  destiny  bids  me 
bring  forth,  I  did  not  intend  for  Pompey  but  for  the 
loser,  whichever  he  might  be.  I  shall  pierce  your 
heart  with  it,  Magnus ;  I  had  rather  have  slain 
Caesar;  but  we  are  borne  by  the  current  that 
carries  the  whole  world  away.  Do  you  doubt 
whether  1  must  do  you  violence  ?     I  must,  because  1 

475 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Cum  liceat  ?    Quae  te  nostri  fiducia  regni 

Hue  agit,  infelix  ?  populum  non  cernis  inermem         525 

Arvaque  vix  refugo  fodientem  mollia  Nilo  ? 

Metiri  sua  regna  decet  viresque  fateri, 

Tu,  Ptolemaee^  potes  Magni  fulcire  ruinam. 

Sub  qua  Roma  iacet  ?  bustum  cineresque  movere 

Thessalicos  audes  bellumque  in  regna  vocare  ?  630 

Ante  aciem  Emathiam  nullis  accessimus  armis  : 

Pompei  nunc  castra  placent,  quae  deserit  orbis  ? 

Nunc  victoris  opes  et  cognita  fata  lacessis  ? 

Adversis  non  desse  decet,  sed  laeta  secutos  : 

Nulla  fides  umquam  miseros  elegit  amicos."  635 

Adsensere  omnes  sceleri.     Laetatur  honore 
Rex  puer  insueto,  quod  iam  sibi  tanta  iubere 
Permittant  famuli.     Sceleri  delectus  Achillas, 
Perfida  qua  tellus  Casiis  excurrit  harenis 
Et  vada  testantur  iunctas  Aegyptia  Syrtes,  640 

Exiguam  sociis  monstri  gladiisque  carinam 
Instruit.     O  superi,  Nilusne  et  barbara  Memphis 
Et  Pelusiaci  tam  mollis  turba  Canopi 
Hos  animos  ?  sic  fata  preraunt  civilia  mundum  ? 
Sic  Romana  iacent?  ullusne  in  cladibus  istis  645 

Est  locus  Aegypto  Phariusque  admittitur  ensis  ? 
Hanc  certe  servate  fidem,  civilia  bella  : 
Cognatas  praestate  manus  externaque  monstra 
Pellite.     Si  meruit  tam  claro  nomine  Magnus 
Caesaris  esse  nefas,  tanti,  Ptolemaee,  ruinam  550 

^  By  a  figure   found  elsewhere  in  Latin  poetry,  the   battle 
itself  is  said  to  be  buried. 

476 


BOOK    VIII 

may.  What  reliance  upon  our  kingdom  brings 
him  hither,  ill-fated  man  ?  Does  he  not  see  our 
unwarlike  population,  scarce  able  to  till  the  fields 
softened  by  the  falling  Nile?  We  must  take  the 
measure  of  our  kingdom  and  confess  our  weakness. 
Are  you,  Ptolemy,  strong  enough  to  prop  the  fall  of 
Pom[)ey — that  fall  beneath  which  Rome  is  crushed  ? 
Dare  you  disturb  the  pyre  and  ashes  of  Pharsalia,' 
and  summon  war  to  your  own  reahns  ?  Before  the 
battle  of  Pharsalia  we  took  neither  side :  do  we  now 
adopt  Pompey's  cause  when  all  the  world  is  forsaking 
it  ?  Do  you  now  challenge  the  might  and  proved 
success  of  Caesar  ?  To  support  the  loser  in  adversity 
is  right,  but  right  only  for  those  who  have  shared  in 
his  prosperity ;  no  loyalty  ever  picked  out  the 
wretched  as  friends." 

All  gave  their  voices  for  the  crime.  The  boy- 
king  was  pleased  by  a  deference  seldom  shown  him, 
when  his  servants  suffered  him  to  give  orders  for 
such  a  tragedy.  Achillas  was  chosen  to  execute  the 
crime,  and  manned  a  small  boat  with  armed  accom- 
plices for  the  horrid  deed,  where  the  land  of  traitors 
juts  out  into  the  sands  of  Mount  Casius,  and  the 
Egyptian  shoals  tell  of  the  neighbouring  Syrtes.  Ye 
gods  !  Do  the  Nile  and  barbarous  Memphis,  and 
the  effeminate  people  of  Egyptian  Canopus,  aspire 
so  high  as  this  ?  Does  the  curse  of  the  civil  war 
weigh  thus  on  all  the  world,  and  has  Rome  fallen  so 
low  ?  What  room  is  there  for  Egypt  in  our  tragedy, 
and  what  part  for  the  sword  of  Egypt  ?  Thus  far  at 
least  civil  war  should  keep  faith  :  it  should  provide 
Roman  hands  to  fall  by  and  keep  foreign  fiends  far 
away.  If  the  mighty  name  of  Magnus  entitled  him 
to  be  Caesar's  guilt,  do  you,  Ptolemy,  not  dread  the 

477 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Nominis  haud  metuis  caeloque  tonante  profanas 

Inseruisse  manus^  inpure  ac  semivir^  audes  ? 

Non  domitor  mundi  nee  ter  Capitol ia  eurru 

Inveetus  regumque  potens  vindexque  senatus 

Victorisque  gener,  Phario  satis  esse  tyranno  555 

Quod  poterat,  Romanus  erat :  quid  viscera  nostra 

Scrutaris  gladio  ?     Nescis,  puer  inprobe^  nescis, 

Quo  tua  sit  fortuna  loco :  iam  iure  sine  ullo 

Nili  sceptra  tenes  ;  cecidit  civilibus  armis 

Qui  tibi  regna  dedit.     Iam  vento  vela  negarat  560 

Magnus  et  auxilio  remorum  infanda  petebat 

Litora  ;  quem  contra  non  longa  vecta  biremi 

Appulerat  scelerata  manus^  Magnoque  patere 

Fingens  regna  Phari  celsae  de  puppe  carinae 

In  parvam  iubet  ire  ratem,  litusque  malignum  565 

Incusat  bimaremque  vadis  frangentibus  aestum, 

Qui  vetet  externas  terris  adpellere  classes. 

Quod  nisi  fatorum  leges  intentaque  iussu 

Ordinis  aeterni  miserae  vicinia  mortis 

Damnatum  leto  traherent  ad  litora  Magnum,  670 

Non  ulli  comitum  sceleris  praesagia  derant : 

Quippe,  fides  si  pura  foret,  si  regia  Magno, 

Sceptrorum  auctori,  vera  pietate  pateret, 

Venturum  tota  Pharium  cum  classe  tyrannum. 

Sed  cedit  fatis  classemque  relinquere  iussus  676 

Obsequitur,  letumque  iuvat  praeferre  timori. 

Ibat  in  hostilem  praeceps  Cornelia  puppem, 

^  There  is  an  ellipse  here:   the   meaning   is    "But  for  pre- 
ordained destiny,   [Pompey  might   have  escaped ;   for]  all  his 
companions  ..." 
478 


BOOK    VIII 

crash  of  that  great  name  ?  do  you,  foul  mockery  of  a 
man,  dare  to  thrust  in  your  sacrilegious  hands  when 
heaven  is  thundering  ?  If  Pompey  were  not  a  world- 
conqueror,  not  one  who  had  thrice  driven  in 
triumph  to  the  Capitol ;  if  he  were  not  the  ruler  of 
kings,  the  champion  of  the  Senate,  and  the  son-in- 
law  of  Caesar, — he  would  be  at  least  a  Roman,  and 
that  might  have  been  enough  for  a  king  of  Egypt ; 
why  do  you  probe  a  Roman  heart  with  your  sword, 
presumptuous  boy  ?  You  do  not  realise  your  own 
position  :  already  you  wear  the  crown  of  Egypt  with 
no  right  to  it,  because  he  who  gave  it  to  you  has 
been  overthrown  by  civil  warfare. — Now  Magnus 
had  robbed  the  wind  of  his  sails  and  was  using  oars 
to  bring  him  to  the  accursed  coast,  when  the  murder- 
ous band  came  alongside  to  meet  him  in  a  little  two- 
oared  boat.  Pretending  that  he  was  welcome  to  the 
kingdom  of  Egypt,  they  invited  him  to  step  into 
their  little  craft  from  the  stern  of  his  tall  vessel, 
blaming  the  scanty  anchorage,  and  the  surf  of  two 
seas  that  broke  upon  the  shallows  and  hindered 
foreign  ships  from  access  to  the  land.  But  for  the 
law  of  destiny,  and  but  for  the  approach  of  a  tragic 
end  inflicted  by  decree  of  the  eternal  order,  which 
were  drawing  Magnus  to  the  shore  under  sentence 
of  death — every  one  of  his  companions  ^  felt  a  pre- 
sentiment of  the  murder  ;  for,  if  there  were  genuine 
loyalty,  if  the  palace  were  thrown  open  with  true 
devotion  to  Magnus  who  conferred  the  royal  power 
upon  it,  then  the  Egyptian  monarch  would  have 
come  with  all  his  fleet.  But  Pompey  yielded  to 
destiny  and  obeyed  when  asked  to  leave  his 
ships,  and  chose  to  die  rather  than  betray  fear. 
Cornelia  hastened  to  enter  the  hostile  craft,  the  less 

479 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Hoc  magis  inpatiens  egresso  desse  marito, 

Quod  metuit  clades.     "  Remane^  temeraria  coniunx, 

Et  tu,  nate,  precor,  longeque  a  litore  casus  680 

Expectate  meos  et  in  hac  cervice  tyranni 

Explorate  fidem  "  dixit.     Sed  surda  vetanti 

Tendebat  geminas  amens  Cornelia  palmas : 

"  Quo  sine  me  crudelis  abis  ?  iterumne  relinquor 

Thessalicis  summota  malis  ?  numquam  omine  laeto    685 

Distrahimur  miseri.     Poteras  non  flectere  p'    >pem, 

Cum  fugeres  alto,  latebrisque  relinquere  Lesbi, 

Omnibus  a  terris  si  nos  arcere  parabas. 

An  tantum  in  fluctus  placeo  comes?"    Haec  ubi  frustra 

EfFudit,  prima  pendet  tamen  anxia  puppe,  690 

Attonitoque  metu  nee  quoquam  avertere  visus 

Nee  Magnum  spectare  potest.     Stetit  anxia  classis 

Ad  ducis  eventum,  metuens  non  arma  nefasque 

Sed  ne  summissis  precibus  Pompeius  adoret 

Sceptra  sua  donata  manu.     Transire  parantem  596 

Roman  us  Pharia  miles  de  puppe  salutat 

Septimius,  qui,  pro  superum  pudor,  anr.a  satelles 

Regia  gestabat  posito  deform i a  pilo, 

Inmanis,  violentus,  atrox  nullaque  ferarum 

Mitior  in  caedes.     Quis  non,  Fortuna,  putasset  600 

Parcere  te  populis,  quod  bello,  haec  dextra  vacaret, 

Thessaliaque  procul  tam  noxia  tela  fugasses  ? 

Disponis  gladios,  ne  quo  non  fiat  in  orbe, 

Heu,  facinus  civile  tibi.     Victoribus  ipsis 

480 


BOOK   VIII 

willing  to  be  left  behind  by  her  husband  when  he 
disembarked  because  she  feared  disaster.  But  he 
said  :  "  Stay  behind^  rash  wife,  and  you,  my  son,  I 
pray  ;  watch  from  afar  what  befalls  me  on  shore,  and 
use  my  head  to  test  the  loyalty  of  the  king."  But 
Cornelia,  deaf  to  his  refusal,  wifdly  stretched  out 
both  her  hands :  "  Whither  are  you  departing  and 
cruelly  leaving  me  behind  ?  am  I  deserted  a  second 
time,  I  who  was  kept  away  from  the  horrors  of 
Pharsalia  ?  Ill-omened  ever  are  our  partings.  You 
might,  when  you  fled  across  the  sea,  have  sailed 
straight  on  and  left  me  in  my  hiding-place  at  Lesbos, 
if  you  intended  to  exclude  me  from  every  shore.  Is 
my  company  displeasing  to  you  except  at  sea  .'* " 
When  she  had  poured  forth  this  remonstrance  in 
vain,  yet  in  her  agony  she  hung  over  the  end  of  the 
ship,  and  panic  fear  prevented  her  either  from 
turning  her  eyes  away  or  from  looking  steadily  at 
Magnus.  The  ships  lay  there  at  anchor,  uneasy  for 
the  fortunes  of  their  leader ;  they  feared  not 
murderous  weapons,  but  that  Pompey  might  bow 
witli  humble  petitions  before  the  sceptre  his  own 
hand  had  bestowed.  As  he  prepared  to  step  across, 
a  Roman  soldier  hailed  him  from  the  Egyptian  boat. 
This  was  Septimius,  who — shame  on  the  gods ! — had 
laid  down  the  pilum  and  carried  the  unworthy 
weapons  of  the  king  whose  minion  he  was  :  a  savage, 
wild,  and  cruel  man,  and  bloodthirsty  as  any  wild 
beast.  Who  would  not  have  thought  that  Fortune 
showed  mercy  to  mankind  when  she  banished  a 
sword  so  guilty  far  from  Pharsalia,  and  when  his  hand 
took  no  part  in  the  battle  ?  No  :  she  scatters  her 
assassins,  that  murder  of  Roman  by  Roman  may  be 
wrought    in    every   part   of    earth    to   please    her. 

481 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Dedecus  et  numquam  superum  caritura  pudore  605 

Fabula  :  Romanus  regi  sic  paruit  ensis, 
Pellaeusque  puer  gladio  tibi  colla  recidit, 
Magne,  tuo.     Qua  posteritas  in  saecula  mittet 
Septimium  fama  ?  scelus  hoc  quo  nomine  dicent. 
Qui  Bruti  dixere  nefas  ?     lam  venerat  horae  610 

Terminus  extremae,  Phariamque  ablatus  in  alnum 
Perdiderat  iam  iura  sui.     Turn  stringere  ferrum 
Regia  monstra  parant.     Ut  vidit  comminus  enses, 
Involvit  voltus  atque,  indignatus  apertum 
Fortunae  praebere^  caput ;  turn  lumina  pressit  615 

Continuitque  animam^  ne  quas  efFundere  voces 
Vellet  et  aeternam  fletu  corrumpere  famam. 
Sed  postquam  mucrone  latus  funestus  Achillas 
Perfodit,  nullo  gemitu  consensit  ad  ictum 
Respexitque  nefas,  servatque  inmobile  corpus,  620 

Seque  probat  moriens  atque  haec  in  pectore  volvit : 
**  Saecula  Romanes  numquam  tacitura  labores 
Attendunt,  aevumque  sequens  speculatur  ab  omni 
Orbe  ratem  Phariamque  fidem  :  nunc  consule  famae. 
Fata  tibi  longae  fluxerunt  prospera  vitae  ;  626 

Ignorant  populi,  si  non  in  morte  probaris, 
An  scieris  adversa  pati.     Ne  cede  pudori 
Auctoremque  dole  fati :  quacumque  feriris, 
Crede  manum  soceri.     Spargant  lacerentque  licebit, 
Sum  tamen,  o  superi,  felix,  nullique  potestas  630 

Hoc  auferre  deo.     Mutantur  prospera  vita  : 
Non  fit  morte  miser.     Videt  banc  Cornelia  caedem 

*  Septimius  had  once  seived  under  Pompey.         ■  Ptolemy. 
482 


BOOK    VIII 

Disgrace  to  Caesar  himself,  a  tale  that  will  always 
bring  reproach  on  Heaven — a  Roman  sword  obeyed 
such  a  behest  of  the  king,  and  the  head  of  Magnus 
was  cut  off  with  his  own  sword  ^  by  the  Macedonian 
boy.2  With  what  infamy  will  posterity  hand  the 
name  of  Septimius  down  to  future  ages  ?  What 
name  will  those  who  called  the  deed  of  Brutus  a  sin 
apply  to  this  crime  ? — Now  the  limit  of  his  last  hour 
had  come  ;  he  was  borne  off  in  the  Egyptian  boat 
and  had  already  lost  the  power  of  free  action.  Next, 
the  king's  assassins  begin  to  bare  the  steel.  When 
Pompey  saw  the  blades  come  close,  he  covered  his 
face  and  head,  disdaining  to  expose  them  bare  to  the 
stroke  of  doom ;  then  he  closed  tight  his  eyes  and 
held  his  breath,  that  he  might  have  no  power  of 
utterance  and  might  not  mar  his  immortal  glory  by 
tears.  But  when  murderous  Achillas  had  driven  the 
point  through  his  side,  he  did  not  acknowledge  the 
blow  by  any  cry  or  take  heed  of  the  horror,  but 
remained  motionless,  and  tested  his  strength  in  the 
hour  of  death  ;  and  these  thoughts  passed  through 
his  mind  :  "  Future  ages,  that  will  never  forget  the 
tragedy  of  Rome,  are  watching  now,  and  from  every 
quarter  of  the  world  time  coming  gazes  at  this  boat 
and  the  treachery  of  Egypt ;  think  now  of  fame. 
Through  a  long  life  the  tide  of  your  success  never 
slackened  ;  men  do  not  know,  unless  you  prove  it  by 
your  death,  whether  you  were  able  to  endure 
adver  sity.  Sink  not  beneath  the  shame,  nor  resent 
the  instrument  of  doom :  whatever  the  hand  that 
slays  you,  believe  it  to  be  the  hand  of  your  kinsman. 
Though  men  scatter  and  mutilate  my  limbs,  never- 
theless, ye  gods,  I  am  a  fortunate  man,  and  of  this  no 
god    can   deprive    me.     For   life   brings  change  to 

483 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pompeiusque  meus  :  tanto  patientius,  oro, 
Clude,  dolor,  gemitus ;  natus  coniunxque  peremptum, 
Si  mirantur,  amant."     Talis  custodia  Magno  635 

Mentis  erat^  ius  hoc  animi  morientis  habebat. 

At  non  tarn  patiens  Cornelia  cernere  saevum, 
Quam  perferre,  nefas  miserandis  aethera  conplet 
Vocibus  :  "  O  coniunx,  ego  te  scelerata  peremi : 
Letiferae  tibi  causa  morae  fuit  avia  Lesbos,  640 

Et  prior  in  Nili  pervenit  litora  Caesar ; 
Nam  cui  ius  alii  sceleris?     Sed,  quisquis  in  istud 
A  superis  inmisse  caput  vel  Caesaris  irae 
Vel  tibi  prospiciens,  nescis,  crudelis,  ubi  ipsa 
Viscera  sint  Magni ;  properas  atque  ingeris  ictus,       645 
Qua  votum  est  victo.     Poenas  non  morte  minores 
Pendat  et  ante  meura  videat  caput.     Haud  ego  culpa 
Libera  bellorum,  quae  matrum  sola  per  undas 
Et  per  castra  comes  nullis  absterrita  fatis 
Victum,  quod  reges  etiam  timuere,  recepi.  660 

Hoc  merui,  coniunx,  in  tuta  puppe  relinqui  ? 
Perfide,  parcebas  ?  te  fata  extrema  petente 
Vita  digna  fui  ?  moriar,  nee  munere  regis. 
Aut  mihi  praecipitem,  nautae,  permittite  saltum, 
Aut  laqueum  collo  tortosque  aptare  rudentes,  666 

Aut  aliquis  Magno  dignus  comes  exigat  ensem  ; 
Pompeio  praestare  potest,  quod  Caesaris  armis 
Inputet.     O  saevi,  properantem  in  fata  tenetis  ? 
484 


BOOK  VIII 

prosperity,  but  death  can  make  no  man  wretched. 
Cornelia  and  my  son  see  this  murder  done  ;  therefore 
I  call  on  my  resentment  to  stifle  its  complaints  all 
the  more  steadfastly  ;  my  wife  and  son  love  me  dead 
the  more,  if  my  death  win  their  admiration."  Such 
control  had  Magnus  over  his  thoughts,  such  mastery 
over  his  mind,  when  he  was  dying. 

But  Cornelia,  less  patient  to  behold  that  cruel 
outrage  than  to  endure  it  herself,  filled  the  air  with 
pitiful  cries :  "  Dear  husband,  I  am  guilty  of  your 
death :  your  fatal  delay  was  caused  by  the  remote- 
ness of  Lesbos,  and  Caesar  has  reached  the  shore  of 
Egypt  before  you  ;  none  else  could  have  power  to 
command  this  crime.  But  whoever  you  are  who 
have  been  sent  by  Heaven  against  that  life,  whether 
serving  the  anger  of  Caesar  or  your  own,  you  know 
not,  ruthless  man,  where  the  very  heart  of  Magnus 
lies ;  in  haste  you  shower  your  blows  where  he,  in 
his  defeat,  welcomes  them.  Let  him  pay  a  penalty 
not  less  than  death  by  seeing  my  head  fall  first.  I 
am  not  blameless  in  respect  of  the  war  ;  for  I  was  the 
only  matron  who  followed  him  on  sea  and  in  camp ; 
I  was  deterred  by  no  disasters,  but  harboured  him  in 
defeat,  which  even  kings  were  afraid  to  do.  And 
is  this  my  reward  from  my  husband,  to  be  left  behind 
in  the  safety  of  the  ship?  Would  you  spare  me, 
faithless  husband.^  Did  I  deserve  to  live  when  you 
went  to  your  death  }  I  shall  die,  nor  owe  it  to  King 
Ptolemy.  Suffer  me,  ye  sailors,  either  to  leap  head- 
long, or  to  fit  a  noose  of  twisted  rope  round  my 
neck ;  or  let  some  friend  of  Pompey  prove  worthy 
of  Pompey  by  driving  home  his  sword  in  my  body 
He  may  do  it  for  Pompey's  sake  and  yet  claim  it  as 
a  service  to  Caesar's  cause.    Cruel  men,  do  you  check 

485 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Vivis  adhuCj  coniunx^  et  iam  Cornelia  non  est 
luris,  Magne,  sui  :  proliibent  accersere  mortem  ; 
Servor  victori."     Sic  fata  interque  suorum 
Lapsa  manus  rapitur  trepida  fugiente  carina. 

At  Magni  cum  terga  sonent  et  pectora  ferro, 
Permansisse  decus  sacrae  venerabile  formae 
Iratamque  deis  faciem^  nil  ultima  mortis 
Ex  habitu  voltuque  viri  mutasse  fatentur^ 
Qui  lacerum  videre  caput.     Nam  saevus  in  ipso 
Septimius  sceleris  mains  scelus  invenit  actu, 
Ac  retegit  sacros  scisso  velamine  voltus 
Semianimis  Magni  spirantiaque  occup.it  ora 
Collaque  in  obliquo  ponit  languentia  transtro. 
Tunc  nervos  venasque  secat  nodosaque  frangit 
Ossa  diu  ;  nondum  artis  erat  caput  ense  rotare. 
At  postquam  trunco  cervix  abscisa  recessit, 
Vindicat  hoc  Pharius,  dextra  gestare,  satelles. 
Degener  atque  operae  miles  Romane  secundae, 
Pompei  diro  sacrum  caput  ense  recidis, 
Ut  non  ipse  feras  ?  o  summi  fata  pudoris  ! 
Inpius  ut  Magnum  nosset  puer,  ilia  verenda 
Regibus  hirta  coma  et  generosa  fronte  decora 
Caesaries  conprensa  manu  est,  Pharioque  veruto, 
Dum  vivunt  voltus  atque  os  in  murmura  pulsant 
Singultus  animae,  dum  lumina  nuda  rigescunt, 
Suffixum  caput  est,  quo  mimquam  bella  iubente 

^  Achillas. 
486 


BOOK   VIII 

my  haste  to  die?  Though  you,  my  husband,  are  still 
alive,  Cornelia  has  already  ceased  to  be  free :  they 
forbid  me  to  summon  death,  and  I  am  kept  alive  for 
Caesar."  Thus  she  spoke,  and  was  carried  away, 
swooning,  in  friendly  arms,  while  the  ship  made 
haste  to  fly. 

But  those  who  saw  the  severed  head  of  Magnus 
admit  that,  when  the  steel  clashed  on  his  back  and 
breast,  the  majestic  beauty  of  those  sacred  features, 
and  the  face  that  frowned  at  Heaven,  suffered  no 
change ;  and  that  the  utmost  death  could  do  made 
no  alteration  in  the  bearing  and  countenance  of  the 
hero.  The  head  was  severed  ;  for  savage  Septimius, 
in  the  very  doing  of  his  crime,  devised  a  crime  still 
worse.  He  slit  the  covering  and  unveiled  the 
sacred  features  of  the  dying  man ;  he  seized  the 
still  breathing  head  and  laid  the  drooping  neck 
across  a  thwart.  Next,  he  severed  the  muscles  and 
veins  and  hacked  long  at  the  knotted  bones ;  it  was 
not  yet  a  knack  to  send  a  head  spinning  with  a 
sword-cut.  But  when  the  neck  was  severed  and 
parted  from  the  body,  the  Egyptian  minion  ^  claims 
this  privilege — to  carry  it  in  his  right  hand.  A 
Roman  soldier  sinks  so  low  as  to  take  a  second 
part :  he  cuts  off  the  sacred  head  of  Pompey  with 
his  cursed  sword  in  order  that  another  may  carry 
it !  What  a  depth  of  ignominy  was  his !  That  the 
sacrilegious  boy  might  recognise  Magnus,  those  manly 
locks  that  kings  revered  and  the  hair  that  graced 
his  noble  brow  were  gripped  by  the  hand ;  and, 
while  the  features  still  showed  life  and  the  sobbing 
breath  drove  sound  through  the  lips,  and  the  stark  eyes 
stiffened,  the  head  was  stuck  on  an  Egyptian  pike — 
that  head,  whose  call  to  war  ever  banished  peace ; 

487 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Pax  fuit ;  hoc  leges  Campumque  et  rostra  movebat,  686 

Hac  facie,  Fortuna,  tibi,  Roiiiana^  placebas. 

Nee  satis  infando  fuit  hoc  vidisse  ty'ranno  : 

Volt  sceleris  superesse  fidem.     Tunc  arte  nefanda 

Summota  est  capiti  tabes,  raptoque  cerebro 

Adsiccata  cutis,  putrisqiie  effluxit  ab  alto  690 

Umor,  et  infuso  facies  solidata  veneno  est. 

Ultima  Lageae  stirpis  perituraque  proles, 
Degener,  incestae  sceptris  cessure  sorori. 
Cum  tibi  sacrato  Macedon  servetur  in  antro 
Et  regum  cineres  extructo  monte  quiescant,  695 

Cum  Ptolemaeorum  manes  seriemque  pudendam 
Pyramides  claudant  indignaque  Mausolea, 
Litora  Pompeium  feriunt,  truncusque  vadosis 
Hue  illuc  iactatur  aquis.     Adeone  molesta 
Totum  cura  fuit  socero  servare  cadaver  ?  700 

Hac  Fortuna  fide  Magni  tam  prosi)era  fata 
Pertulit,  hac  ilium  summo  de  culmine  rerum 
Morte  petit  cladesque  omnes  exegit  in  uno 
Saeva  die,  quibus  inmunes  tot  praestitit  annos, 
Pompeiusque  fuit,  qui  numquam  mixta  videret  705 

Laeta  malis,  felix  nullo  turbante  deorum 
Et  nullo  parcente  miser  ;  semel  inpulit  ilium 
Dilata  Fortuna  manu.      Pulsatur  harenis, 
Carpitur  in  scopulis  hausto  per  volnera  fluctu, 
Ludibrium  pelagi,  nullaque  manente  figura  710 


*  The  elections,  which  were  hold  in  the  Campu-i  MarLius. 
^  Alexander  the  Great. 


488 


BOOK    VIII 

the  head,  which  swayed  the  Senate,  the  Campus,* 
and  the  Rostrum ;  that  was  the  face  which  the 
Fortune  of  Home  was  proud  to  wear.  The  sight 
of  it  was  not  enough  for  the  infamous  king :  he 
wislied  proof  of  his  guilt  to  remain.  Thereupon, 
by  their  hideous  art  the  blood  was  drained  from  the 
head,  the  brain  torn  out,  and  the  skin  dried ;  the 
corrupting  moisture  was  drawn  out  from  the  inmost 
parts,  and  the  features  were  liardened  by  the  infusion 
of  drugs. 

Last  scion  of  the  line  of  Lagus,  doomed  and  de- 
generate king;  who  must  surrender  your  crown  to 
your  incestuous  sister,  though  you  preserve  the 
Macedonian  ^  in  consecrated  vault  and  the  ashes 
of  the  Pharaohs  rest  beneath  a  mountain  of  masonry, 
though  the  dead  Ptolemies  and  their  unworthy 
dynasty  are  covered  by  pyramids  and  mausoleums 
too  good  for  them,  Pompey  is  battered  on  the  shore, 
and  his  headless  body  is  tossed  hither  and  thither 
in  the  shallows.  Was  it  so  troublesome  a  task  to 
keep  the  whole  body  for  his  kinsman  to  see.'*  So 
true  to  her  bargain,  did  Fortune  continue  to  the 
end  the  prosperity  of  Magnus;  so  true  to  her 
bargain,  she  summoned  him  at  his  death  from  his 
pinnacle  of  glory,  and  ruthlessly  made  him  pay  in 
a  single  day  for  all  the  disasters  from  which  she 
protected  hnn  for  many  years ;  and  Pompey  was  the 
only  man  who  never  experienced  good  and  evil 
together :  his  prosperity  no  god  disturbed,  and  on 
his  misery  no  god  had  mercy.  Fortune  held  her 
hand  for  long  and  then  overthrew  him  with  one 
blow.  He  is  tossed  on  the  sands  and  mangled  on 
the  rocks,  while  his  wounds  drink  in  the  wave  ;  he 
is  the  plaything  of  Ocean,  and,  when  all  shape  is 

489 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Una  nota  est  Magno  capitis  iactura  revolsi. 

Ante  tamen  Pharias  victor  quam  taiigat  harenas, 
Pompeio  raptim  tumulum  fortuna  paravit, 
Ne  iaceat  nullo  vel  ne  meliore  sepulchre : 
E  latebris  pavidus  decurrit  ad  aequora  Cordus. 
Quaestor  ab  Icario  Cinyreae  litore  Cypri 
Infaustus  Magni  fuerat  comes.     Ille  per  umbras 
Ausus  ferre  gradum  victum  pietate  timorem 
Conpulit,  ut  mediis  quaesitum  corpus  in  undis 
Duceret  ad  terram  traheretque  in  litora  Magnum. 
Lucis  maesta  parum  per  densas  Cynthia  nubes 
Praebebat ;  cano  sed  discolor  aequore  truncus 
Conspicitur.     Tenet  ille  ducem  conplexibus  artis 
Eripiente  mari ;  tunc  victus  pondere  tanto 
Expectat  fluctus  pelagoque  iuvante  cadaver 
Inpellit.     Postquam  sicco  iam  litore  sedit, 
Incubuit  Magno  lacrimasque  effudit  in  omne 
Volnus,  et  ad  superos  obscuraque  sidera  fatur : 
**  Non  pretiosa  petit  cumulate  ture  sepulchra 
Pompeius,  Fortuna,  tuus,  non  pinguis  ad  astra 
Ut  ferat  e  membris  Eoos  fumus  odores, 
Ut  Romana  suum  gestent  pia  col  la  parentem, 
Praeferat  ut  veteres  feralis  pompa  triumphos, 
Ut  resonent  tristi  cantu  fora,  totus  ut  ignes 
Proiectis  maerens  exercitus  ambiat  armis. 
Da  vilem  Magno  plebei  funeris  arcam, 
Quae  lacerum  corpus  siccos  effundat  in  ignes ; 


^  The  meaning  of  this  epithet  is  unknown. 
'  I.e.  not  fed  with  spices. 


490 


BOOK    VIII 

lost,  the  one  mark  to  identify  Magnus  is  the  absence 
of  the  severed  head. 

But  before  Caesar  could  reach  the  sands  of 
Egypt,  Fortune  devised  a  hasty  burial  for  Pompey, 
that  he  might  not  lack  a  tomb,  or  that  he  might 
not  have  a  better.  In  fear  and  haste  Cordus  came 
down  from  his  hiding-place  to  the  sea ;  as  quaestor 
he  had  made  the  ill-starred  voyage  with  Magnus 
from  the  Icarian^  shore  of  Cyprus,  where  Cinyras 
once  reigned.  Under  cover  of  darkness  he  dared  to 
come,  and  forced  his  fear,  mastered  by  duty,  to  seek 
the  body  amid  the  waves,  and  draw  it  to  land  and 
drag  Magnus  to  the  shore.  A  sad  moon  shed  but 
scanty  light  through  thick  clouds ;  but  the  headless 
body  was  visible  by  its  different  colour  in  the  foam- 
ing waves.  He  grasped  his  leader  tight  against  the 
snatching  of  the  sea ;  then,  unequal  to  that  mighty 
burden,  he  waited  for  a  wave  and  then  pushed  on 
the  body  with  the  sea  to  help  him.  When  it  came 
to  rest  above  the  water-line,  he  cast  himself  upon 
Magnus,  pouring  tears  into  every  wound ;  and  thus 
he  addressed  Heaven  and  the  dim  stars  :  "  No  costly 
pyre  with  heaped -up  incense  does  your  favourite, 
Pompey,  ask  of  you.  Fortune ;  he  does  not  ask  that 
the  rich  smoke  should  carry  to  the  stars  Eastern 
perfumes  from  his  limbs;  that  devoted  Romans 
should  bear  on  their  shoulders  the  dear  father  of 
his  country ;  that  the  funeral  procession  should 
display  his  former  trophies ;  that  the  Forum  should 
be  filled  with  mournful  music  ;  or  that  a  whole  army, 
with  dropped  arms,  should  march  mourning  round 
the  burning  pile.  But  grant  to  Magnus  the  paltry 
bier  of  a  pauper's  burial,  to  let  down  the  mutilated 
body  on  the  unfed  ^  fires ;  let  not  the  hapless  corpse 

491 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Robora  non  desint  misero  nee  sordidus  ustor. 

Sit  satis,  o  superi,  quod  non  Cornelia  fuse 

Crine  iacet  subicique  facem  conplexa  maritura  740 

Imperat,  extremo  sed  abest  a  munere  busti 

Infelix  coniunx  nee  adhuc  a  litore  longe  est." 

Sic  fatus  parvos  iuvenis  procul  aspicit  ignes 

Corpus  vile  suis  nullo  custode  cremantes. 

Inde  rapit  flammas  semustaque  robora  raembris  745 

Subducit.     "  Quaecumque  es,"  ait  '^  neglecta  nee  ulli 

Cara  tuo  sed  Pompeio  felicior  umbra, 

Quod  iam  conpositum  violat  manus  hospita  bustum, 

Da  veniam  ;  si  quid  sensus  post  fata  relictum, 

Cedis  et  ipsa  rogo  paterisque  haec  damna  sepulchri,  750 

Teque  pudet  sparsis  Pompei  manibus  uri." 

Sic  fatus  plenusque  sinus  ardente  favilla 

Pervolat  ad  truncura,  qui  fluctu  paene  relatus 

Litore  pendebat.     Sumraas  dimovit  harenas 

Et  collecta  procul  lacerae  fragmenta  carinae  755 

Exigua  trepidus  posuit  scrobe.     Nobile  corpus 

Robora  nulla  premunt,  nulla  strue  membra  recurabunt : 

Admotus  Magnum,  non  subditus,  accipit  ignis. 

llle  sedens  iuxta  flammas  "  O  maxime  "  dixit 

"  Ductor  et  Hesperii  maiestas  nominis  una,  760 

Si  tibi  iactatu  pelagi,  si  funere  nullo 

Tristior  iste  rogus,  manes  animamque  potentera 

Officiis  averte  meis  :  iniuria  fati 

Hoc  fas  esse  iubet ;  ne  ponti  belua  quidquam, 

Ne  fera,  ne  volucres,  ne  saevi  Caesaris  ira  765 

492 


BOOK    VIII 

lack  wood  or  a  mean  hand  to  kindle  it.  Be  content 
with  this,  ye  gods,  that  Cornelia  does  not  lie  pros- 
trate with  dishevelled  hair — does  not  embrace  her 
husband  and  bid  the  torch  be  applied  ;  that  his  un- 
happy wife,  though  still  not  far  distant  from  the 
shore,  is  not  here  to  pay  her  last  tribute  to  the 
dead."  When  the  youth  had  spoken  thus,  he  saw 
at  a  distance  a  feeble  fire  that  was  burning  a  corpse 
uncared  for  and  unguarded.  Thence  he  took  fire  in 
haste  and  drew  the  charred  logs  from  beneath  the 
body.  "  Whoever  you  are,"  he  said,  "  uncared  for 
and  unloved  by  any  of  your  kin,  but  yet  more 
fortunate  after  death  than  Pompey,  pardon  the 
stranger  hand  that  robs  your  pyre  once  laid.  If 
aught  of  feeling  survives  death,  you  willingly  resign 
your  pyre  and  permit  this  robbery  of  your  grave  ; 
and  you  are  ashamed,  when  the  body  of  Pompey 
is  divided,  to  find  cremation  yourself."  I'hus  he 
spoke,  and  having  filled  his  lap  with  the  burning 
embers  he  flew  back  to  the  body,  which,  as  it  hung 
upon  the  shore,  had  nearly  been  carried  back  by  a 
wave.  He  scraped  away  the  surface  of  the  sand, 
and  hastily  laid  in  a  narrow  trench  the  pieces  of  a 
broken  boat  which  he  had  gathered  at  a  distance. 
No  wood  supports  that  famous  corpse,  on  no  pile 
are  the  limbs  laid  ;  the  fire  that  receives  Magnus  is 
not  laid  beneath  him  but  beside  him.  Sitting  near 
the  fire,  Cordus  said :  "  Mighty  captain  and  un- 
equalled glory  of  the  Roman  people,  if  this  pyre 
is  more  distressful  to  you  than  to  be  tossed  by  the 
sea,  or  than  no  burial  at  all,  then  turn  away  your 
spirit  and  your  mighty  ghost  from  the  service  I 
render ;  the  wrong  of  Fate  makes  this  right ;  that 
no  sea  monster  or  beast  or  bird  or  wrath  of  cruel 

493 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Audeat,  exiguam,  quantum  potes,  accipe  flammam, 
Romana  succense  manu.     Fortuna  recursus 
Si  det  in  Hesperiam,  non  hac  in  sede  quiescent 
Tarn  sacri  cineres,  sed  te  Cornelia,  Magne, 
Accipiet  nostraque  manu  transfundet  in  urnam.  770 

Interea  parvo  signemus  litora  saxo, 
Ut  nota  sit  busti ;  si  quis  placare  peremptum 
Forte  volet  plenos  et  reddere  mortis  honores, 
Inveniat  trunci  cineres  et  norit  harenas, 
Ad  quas,  Magne,  tuum  referat  caput."      Haec  ubi  fatus, 
Excitat  invalidas  admoto  fomite  flammas.  776 

Carpitur  et  lentum  Magnus  destillat  in  ignem 
Tabe  fovens  bustum.     Sed  iam  percusserat  astra 
Aurorae  praemissa  dies  :  ille  ordine  rupto 
Funeris  attonitus  latebras  in  litore  quaerit.  780 

Quam  metuis,  demens,  isto  pro  crimine  poenam. 
Quo  te  fama  loquax  omnes  accepit  in  annos  ? 
Condita  laudabit  Magni  socer  inpius  ossa  : 
I  modo  securus  veniae  fassusque  sepulchrum 
Posce  caput.     Cogit  pietas  inponere  finem  786 

Officio.     Semusta  rapit  resolutaque  nondum 
Ossa  satis  nervis  et  inustis  plena  meduUis 
Aequorea  restinguit  aqua  congestaque  in  unum 
Parva  clusit  humo.     Tunc,  ne  levis  aura  retectos 
Auferret  cineres,  saxo  conpressit  harenam,  790 

Nautaque  ne  bustum  religato  fune  moveret, 
Inscfipsit  sacrum  semusto  stipite  nomen  : 
"Hie  situs  est   Magnus."     Placet  hoc,  Fortuna,  sepul- 
chrum 


^  What  is  known  in  the  l*>ast  as  "  false  dawn." 
494 


r 


BOOK   VIII 


Caesar  may  make  bold,  accept  all  that  is  possible 
for  you — this  scanty  flame ;  a  Roman  hand  has 
kindled  your  corpse.  If  Fortune  grant  us  a  return 
to  Italy,  not  here  will  these  sacred  ashes  rest ;  but 
Cornelia  will  recover  you,  Magnus,  and  will  transfer 
them  from  my  hand  to  an  urn.  Meanwhile,  let  me 
mark  the  place  on  the  shore  with  a  small  stone  to 
be  a  token  of  your  grave ;  if  any  man  haply  desires 
to  make  atonement  to  your  spirit  and  give  you  your 
due  of  funeral  honours,  let  him  find  the  ashes  of  the 
body,  and  recognise  the  strand  to  which  he  must 
restore  your  head."  Having  spoken  thus,  he 
brightens  the  feeble  flame  with  a  fresh  supply  of 
fuel.  Slowly  the  body  of  Magnus  is  consumed  and 
melts  into  the  fire,  feeding  the  flame  with  the 
dissolving  flesh.  But  by  now  the  daylight^  which 
precedes  the  dawn  had  smitten  the  stars ;  and  he 
broke  off  the  rites  and  sought  in  terror  his  hiding- 
place  upon  the  shore.  What  punishment  do  you 
dread,  poor  fool,  for  your  crime,  because  of  which 
the  voice  of  Fame  has  made  you  welcome  for  all 
time  to  come  ?  His  unnatural  kinsman  will  approve 
the  burial  of  Pompey's  bones.  Nay  go,  secure  of 
pardon,  confess  that  you  buried  him,  and  demand 
the  head. — Duty  compels  him  to  complete  his  service. 
He  snatched  the  charred  bones  not  yet  entirely 
parted  from  the  muscles,  and  quenched  them,  full 
of  the  scorched  marrow,  with  sea  water;  then  he 
piled  them  together  and  hid  them  beneath  a  handful 
of  earth.  Next,  lest  a  light  breeze  should  bare  and 
scatter  the  ashes,  he  planted  a  stone  in  the  sand ; 
and  that  no  sailor  might  disturb  the  tomb  by  moor- 
ing his  bark  there,  he  used  a  charred  stick  to  write 
the  sacred  name  upon  it :  "  Here  Magnus  lies."  Is 
it   the  will   of  Fortune  to  call    this   the   grave   of 

495 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Dicere  Pompei^  quo  condi  maluit  ilium 

Quam  terra  caruisse  socer  ?     Temeraria  dextra,  795 

Cur  obicis  Magno  tumulum  manesque  vagantes 

Includis  ?     Situs  est,  qua  terra  extrema  refuso 

Pendet  in  Oceano  ;  Romanum  nomen  et  omne 

Imperium  Magno  tumuli  est  modus  ;  obrue  saxa 

Crimine  plena  deum.     Si  tota  est  Herculis  Oete        800 

Et  iuga  tota  vacant  Bromio  Nyseia,  quare 

Unus  in  Aegypto  Magni  lapis  ?  omnia  Lagi 

Arva  tenere  potest,  si  nuUo  caespite  nomen 

Haeserit.     Erremus  populi  cinerumque  tuorum, 

Magne,  metu  nullas  Nili  calcemus  harenas.  805 

Quod  si  tam  sacro  dignaris  nomine  saxum, 

Adde  actus  tantos  monumentaque  maxima  rerum, 

Adde  trucis  Lepidi  motus  Alpinaque  bella 

Armaque  Sertori  revocato  consule  victa 

Et  currus,  quos  egit  eques,  commercia  tuta  810 

Gentibus  et  pavidos  Cilicas  maris ;  adde  subactam 

Barbariem  gentesque  vagas  et  quidquid  in  Euro 

Regnorum  Boreaque  iacet.     Die  semper  ab  armis 

Civilem  repetisse  togam,  ter  curribus  actis 

Contentum  multos  patriae  donasse  triumphos.  815 

Quis  capit  haec  tumulus  ?  surgit  miserabile  bustum 

Non  ullis  plenum  titulis,  non  ordine  tanto 

Fastorum  ;  solitumque  legi  super  alta  deorum 

Culmina  et  extructos  spoliis  hostilibus  arcus 

Haud  procul  est  ima  Pompei  nomen  harena  820 

^  As  a  worse  outrage. 
496 


BOOK    VIII 

Pompey— this  grave  which  Caesar  preferred^  for 
his  son-in-law  to  no  burial  at  all  ?  Rash  hand,  why 
do  you  thrust  a  tomb  on  Magnus,  and  imprison  the 
spirit  that  roams  free  ?  His  burial-place  extends  as 
far  as  the  most  distant  land  that  floats  on  the  circling 
stream  of  Ocean ;  the  Roman  name  and  all  the 
Roman  empire  are  the  limit  of  Pompey's  grave. 
Away  with  that  stone,  eloquent  in  reproach  of 
Heaven  !  If  all  Oeta  belongs  to  Hercules,  and  the 
hills  of  Nysa  own  no  lord  but  Bacchus  alone,  why  is 
there  but  a  single  stone  in  Egypt  for  Magnus  ?  He 
can  fill  all  the  kingdom  of  Lagus,  if  his  name  were 
fixed  upon  no  grave.  Then  mankind  would  be  in 
doubt,  and,  from  fear  to  tread  on  the  ashes  of 
Magnus,  we  should  avoid  altogether  the  sands  of 
Nile.  But,  if  you  think  the  stone  worthy  of  that 
sacred  name,  tlien  add  his  great  achievements  and 
the  records  of  his  mighty  deeds ;  add  the  rising  of 
fierce  Lepidus  and  the  Alpine  war ;  the  victory  over 
Sertorius,  when  the  consul  was  recalled,  and  the 
triumph  which  he  celebrated  while  yet  a  knight; 
.  write  of  commerce  made  safe  for  all  nations,  and 
of  the  Cilicians  scared  from  the  sea.  Tell  how  he 
subdued  the  barbarian  world,  and  nomad  peoples, 
and  all  the  rulers  of  East  and  North.  Say  that  ever 
after  war  he  donned  again  the  citizen's  gown,  and 
that,  content  with  three  triumphal  pageants,  he 
excused  his  country  many  triumphs.  What  tomb 
has  room  for  all  this?  There  rises  a  pitiful  grave- 
stone, rich  with  no  records  or  long  roll  of  offices; 
and  the  name  of  Pompey,  which  men  were  wont  to 
read  upon  lofty  temples  of  the  gods  and  upon  arches 
reared  with  spoils  of  our  foes, — that  name  is  little 
raised  above  the  lowly  sand^  and  set  so  low  upon 

497 

VOL.    1.  R 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Depressum  tumulo,  quod  non  legat  advena  rectus. 
Quod  nisi  monstratum  Romanus  transeat  hospes. 

Noxia  civili  tell  us  Aegyptia  fato, 
Haud  equidem  inmerito  Cumanae  carmine  vatis 
Cautum,  ne  Nili  Pelusia  tangeret  ora  825 

Hesperius  miles  ripasque  aestate  tumentes. 
Quid  tibi,  saeva,  precer  pro  tanto  crimine,  tellus  ? 
Vertat  aquas  Nilus  quo  nascitur  orbe  retentus, 
Et  steriles  egeant  hibernis  imbribus  agri, 
Totaque  in  Aethiopum  putres  solvaris  harenas.  830 

Nos  in  templa  tuam  Romana  recepimus  Isim 
Semideosque  canes  et  sistra  iubentia  luctus 
Et,  quem  tu  plangens  hominem  testaris,  Osirim  : 
Tu  nostros,  Aegypte,  tenes  in  pulvere  manes. 
Tu  quoque,  cum  saevo  dederis  iam  templa  tyranno,  835 
Nondum  Pompei  cineres,  o  Roma,  petisti ; 
Exul  adhuc  iacet  umbra  ducis.     Si  saecula  prima 
Victoris  timuere  minas,  nunc  excipe  saltem 
Ossa  tui  Magni,  si  nondum  subruta  fluctu 
In  visa  tellure  sedent.     Quis  busta  timebit,  840 

Quis  sacris  dignam  movisse  verebitur  umbram  ? 
Imperet  hoc  nobis  utinam  scelus  et  velit  uti 
Nostro  Roma  sinu  :  satis  o  nimiumque  beatus, 
Si  mihi  contingat  manes  transferre  revolsos 
Ausoniam,  si  tale  ducis  violare  sepulchrum.  845 

Forsitan,  aut  sulco  sterili  cum  poscere  finem 
A  superis  aut  Roma  volet  feralibus  Austris 
Ignibus  aut  nimiis  aut  terrae  tecta  moventi, 
Consilio  iussuque  deum  transibis  in  urbem, 


^  Caesar. 
498 


i 


BOOK    VIII 

the  grave  that  a  stranger  must  stoop  to  read  it, 
and  a  visitor  from  Rome  would  pass  it  by  if  it  were 
not  pointed  out. 

O  land  of  Egypt,  guilty  of  the  destinies  of  civil 
war,  with  good  reason  did  the  Sibyl  of  Cumae  warn 
us  in  her  verse,  that  no  Roman  soldier  should  visit 
the  mouths  of  the  Nile  in  Eorypt,  and  those  banks 
which  the  summer  floods.  What  curse  can  I  invoke 
upon  that  ruthless  land  in  reward  for  so  great  a 
crime  ?  May  Nile  reverse  his  waters  and  be  stayed 
in  the  region  where  he  rises ;  may  the  barren  fields 
crave  winter  rains ;  and  may  all  the  soil  break  up 
into  the  crumbling  sands  of  Ethiopia.  Though  we 
have  admitted  to  Roman  temples  your  Isis  and  your 
dogs  half  divine,  the  rattle  which  bids  the  worship- 
per wail,  and  the  Osiris  whom  you  prove  to  be 
mortal  by  mourning  for  him,  yet  you,  Egypt,  keep 
our  dead  a  prisoner  in  your  dust.  Rome  too,  though 
she  has  already  given  a  temple  to  the  cruel  tyrant,^ 
has  not  yet  claimed  the  ashes  of  Pompey,  and  his 
ghost  still  lies  in  exile.  If  the  first  generation 
dreaded  Caesar's  threats,  now  at  least  let  her 
welcome  the  bones  of  her  beloved  Magnus,  if  they 
still  remain  in  that  hated  land  and  are  not  yet 
washed  away  by  the  sea.  Who  will  fear  to  trouble 
the  tomb,  and  dread  to  remove  the  dead  so  worthy 
of  worship?  Oh,  that  Rome  would  bid  me  do  this 
wrong,  and  deign  to  make  use  of  my  arms  !  Happy, 
too  happy,  should  I  be,  if  it  were  mine  to  unearth 
the  remains  and  convey  them  to  Italy,  and  to 
violate  a  tomb  so  unworthy  of  them.  Perhaps, 
when  Rome  shall  pray  from  Heaven  a  cure  for 
barren  fields  or  pestilential  winds  or  excessive  heats 
or  earthquake,  then,  at  the  advice  and  bidding  of 

499 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Magne,  tuam,  summusque  feret  tua  busta  sacerdos.    850 

Nam  quis  ad  exustam  Cancro  torrente  Syenen 

Ibit  et  imbrifera  siccas  sub  Pliade  Thebas 

Spectator  Nili,  quis  rubri  stagna  profundi 

Aut  Arabum  portus  mercis  mutator  Eoae, 

Magne,  petet,  quern  non  tumuli  venerabile  saxum      855 

Et  cinis  in  summis  forsan  turbatus  harenis 

Avertet  manesque  tuos  placare  iubebit 

Et  Casio  praeferre  lovi  ?     Nil  ista  nocebunt 

Famae  busta  tuae :  templis  auroque  sepultus 

Vilior  umbra  fores.     Nunc  est  pro  numine  summo     860 

Hoc  tumulo  Fortuna  iacens  :  augustius  aris 

Victoris  Libyco  pulsatur  in  aequore  saxum. 

Tarpeis  qui  saepe  deis  sua  tura  negarunt, 

Inclusum  Tusco  venerantur  caespite  fulmen. 

Proderit  hoc  olim,  quod  non  mansura  futuris  865 

Ardua  marmoreo  surrexit  pondere  moles. 

Pulveris  exigui  sparget  non  longa  vetustas 

Congeriem,  bustumque  cadet,  mortisque  peribunt 

Argumenta  tuae.     Veniet  felicior  aetas. 

Qua  sit  nulla  fides  saxum  monstrantibus  illud ;  870 

Atque  erit  Aegyptus  populis  fortasse  nepotum 

Tam  mendax  Magni  tumulo  quam  Creta  Tonantis. 

^  Of  Mount  Casion,  near  Pelusium. 

*  Fortune  is  here  identified  with  her  favourite,  Pompey. 

^  That  is,  the  place  struck  by  lightning :  the  Romans  called 
such  a  place  bidental  or  puteal,  and  treated  it  as  cdmecrated 
ground. 

*  The  Cretans  pointed  out  a  place  in  their  island  which  was 
said  to  be  the  tomb  of  Zeus  (Jupiter). 


500 


BOOK   VIII 

the  gods,  you  will  pass,  MagDus,  to  your  loved  city, 
and  the  chief  Pontiff  will  bear  your  ashes.  Even 
now,  if  any  man  travels  to  Syene,  parched  by 
flaming  Cancer,  and  to  Thebes,  unwetted  even 
under  the  rain-bearing  Pleiads,  in  order  to  behold 
the  Nile ;  if  any  man  seeks  the  quiet  waters  of  the 
Red  Sea  or  the  ports  of  Arabia  to  traffic  in  Eastern 
wares — that  gravestone,  and  those  ashes,  perhaps 
disturbed  and  lying  on  the  surface  of  the  sand,  will 
call  him  aside  to  worship,  and  bid  him  appease  the 
spirit  of  Magnus,  and  give  it  tlie  preference  over 
Casian  ^  Jupiter.  That  grave  will  never  mar  his 
fame ;  the  dead  would  be  less  precious  if  buried  in 
temples  and  gold.  Fortune,  lying  in  this  tomb,  is 
now  at  last  a  supreme  deity ;  ^  prouder  than  all 
Caesar's  altars  is  the  sea-beaten  stone  on  the  shore 
of  Africa.  Many,  who  deny  to  the  deities  of  the 
Ca{)itol  the  incense  which  is  their  due,  worship  the 
thunderbolt^  fenced  in  by  the  augur's  turf.  One 
day  it  will  prove  a  gain  that  no  lofty  pile  of 
massive  marble  was  raised  here  to  last  for  ever. 
For  a  short  space  of  time  will  scatter  the  little  heap 
of  dust ;  the  grave  will  fall  in  ;  and  all  proof  of 
Pompey's  death  will  be  lost.  A  happier  age  will 
come,  when  those  who  point  out  that  stone  will  be 
disbelieved,  and  perhaps  our  descendants  will  con- 
sider Egypt  as  false  in  her  tale  of  Pompey's  tomb 
as  Crete  when  she  claims  the  tomb  of  Jupiter.* 


50  • 


BOOK    IX 


LIBER   NONUS 

At  non  in  Pharia  manes  iacuere  favilla, 

Nee  cinis  exiguus  tantam  conpescuit  umbrara : 

Prosiluit  busto  semustaque  membra  relinquens 

Degeneremqiie  rogum  sequitur  convexa  Tonantis. 

Qua  niger  astriferis  conectitur  axibus  aer  6 

Quodque  patet  terras  inter  lunaeque  meatus, 

Semidei  manes  habitant,  quos  ignea  virtus 

Innocuos  vita  patientes  aetheris  imi 

Fecit,  et  aeternos  animam  coilegit  in  orbes : 

Non  illuc  auro  positi  nee  ture  sepulti  10 

Perveniunt.     Illic  postquam  se  lumine  vero 

Inplevit,  stellasque  vagas  miratus  et  astra 

Fixa  polis,  vidit  quanta  sub  nocte  iaceret 

Nostra  dies,  risitque  sui  ludibria  trunci. 

Hinc  super  Emathiae  campos  et  signa  cruenti  16 

Caesaris  ac  sparsas  volitavit  in  aequore  classes, 

Et  scelerum  vindex  in  sancto  pectore  Bruti 

Sedit  et  invicti  posuit  se  mente  Catonis. 

Ille,  ubi  pendebant  casus  dubiumque  manebat, 
Quem  dominum  mundi  facerent  civilia  bella,  20 

Oderat  et  Magnum,  quamvis  comes  isset  in  arma 

^  The  Stoics  taught  that  the  souls  of  the  virtuous  ascend  to 
the  moon's  orbit,  at  which  the  dark  air  ends  and  tiie  bright 
ether  begins. 


BOOK    IX 

But  the  spirit  of  Pompey  did  not  linger  down 
in  Egypt  among  the  embers,  nor  did  that  handful 
of  ashes  prison  his  mighty  ghost.  Soaring  up  from 
the  burning-place,  it  left  the  charred  limbs  and 
unworthy  pyre  behind,  and  sought  the  dome  of  the 
Thunderer.  Where  our  dark  atmosphere — the 
intervening  space  between  earth  and  the  moon's  orbit 
— joins  on  to  the  starry  spheres,  there  after  death 
dwell  heroes,  whose  fiery  quality  has  fitted  them, 
after  guiltless  lives,  to  endure  the  lower  limit  of 
ether,  and  has  brought  their  souls  from  all  parts  to 
the  eternal  splieres  :  ^  to  those  who  are  coffined  in 
gold  and  buried  with  incense  that  realm  is  barred. 
When  he  had  steeped  himself  in  the  true  light  of 
that  region,  and  gazed  at  the  planets  and  the  fixed 
stars  of  heaven,  he  saw  the  thick  darkness  that  veils 
our  day,  and  smiled  at  the  mockery  done  to  his 
headless  body.  Then  his  spirit  flew  above  the  field 
of  Pharsalia,  the  standards  of  bloodthirsty  Caesar, 
and  the  ships  scattered  over  the  sea,  till  it  settled, 
as  the  avenger  of  guilt,  in  the  righteous  breast  of 
Brutus,  and  took  up  its  abode  in  the  heart  of 
unconquerable  Cato. 

While  the  issue  remained  uncertain,  and  none 
could  tell  whom  the  civil  war  would  make  master 
of  the  world,  Cato  hated  Magnus  as  well  as 
Caesar,  though    he    had    been   swept   away  by  his 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Auspiciis  raptus  patriae  ductiique  senatus ; 

At  post  Thessalicas  clades  iam  pectore  toto 

Pompeianus  erat.     Patriam  tutore  carentem 

Excepit,  populi  trepidantia  membra  refovit,  26 

Ignavis  manibus  proiectos  reddidit  enses, 

Nee  regnum  cupiens  gessit  civilia  bella 

Nee  servire  timens.     Nil  causa  fecit  in  armis 

Ille  sua :  totae  post  Magni  funera  partes 

Libertatis  erant.     Quas  ne  per  litora  fusas  30 

Colligeret  rapido  victoria  Caesaris  actu, 

Corcyrae  secreta  petit  ac  mille  carinis 

Abstulit  Emathiae  secum  fragmeiita  ruinae. 

Quis  ratibus  tantis  fugientia  crederet  ire 

Agmina  ?  quis  pelagus  victas  artasse  carinas  ?  35 

Dorida  tunc  Malean  et  apertam  Taenaron  umbris, 
Inde  Cythera  petit,  Boreaque  urguente  carinas 
Graia^  fugit,  Dictaea  legit  cedentibus  undis 
Litora.     Tunc  ausum  classi  praecludere  portus 
Inpulit  ac  saevas  meritum  Phycunta  rapinas  40 

Sparsit,  et  hinc  placidis  alto  delabitur  auris 
In  litus,  Palinure,  tuum, — neque  enim  aequore  tantum 
Ausonio  monumenta  tenes,  portusque  quietos 
Testatur  Libye  Phrygio  placuisse  magistro— • 
Cum  procul  ex  alto  tendentes  vela  carinae  46 

Ancipites  tenuere  animos,  sociosne  malorum 

1  Graia  Housman :  Greta  M88. 

^  I.e.  a  fleet  carrying  men  who  had  been  defeated. 
*  Paliurus  seems  to  be  the  right  name  of  the  cape  in  Africa ; 
Palinurus  is  a  promontory  on  the  coast  of  Lucauia. 

506 


BOOK    IX 

country's  cause  to  follow  the  Senate  to  Pompey's 
camp ;  but  now,  after  the  defeat  of  Pharsalia,  he 
favoured  Pompey  with  his  whole  heart.  When  his 
country  had  no  guardian,  he  took  her  in  charge ; 
he  revived  the  trembling  limbs  of  the  nation,  and 
replaced  the  swords  that  coward  hands  had  thrown 
down ;  and  he  carried  on  the  civil  war,  without 
either  seeking  to  be  a  tyrant  or  fearing  to  be  a 
slave.  He  did  naught  in  arms  to  serve  his  own 
ends ;  after  the  death  of  Magnus  the  whole  party 
was  the  party  of  freedom.  But  they  were  scattered 
round  the  coasts  ;  and,  that  victorious  Caesar  might 
not  pick  them  all  up  in  his  rapid  progress,  Cato 
sought  the  retirement  of  Corcyra  and  carried  away 
with  him  in  a  thousand  ships  the  wreck  of  the 
disaster  at  Pharsalia.  Who  would  have  believed 
that  an  army,  conveyed  on  so  many  vessels,  was  in 
flight,  or  that  the  sea  had  proved  too  narrow  for 
a  vanquished  fleet  .''^ 

Next  he  went  to  Malea  of  the  Dorians  and 
Taenarus  wher-e  the  dead  may  rise,  and  thence 
to  Cythera,  As  the  North  wind  sped  on  his  keels, 
he  shunned  the  shore  of  Greece  and  sailed  along 
the  coast  of  Crete,  and  the  waves  gave  way  before 
them.  Then,  when  Phycus  dared  to  close  its 
harbour  against  the  fleet,  he  overthrew  it  and  laid 
in  ruins  a  town  which  deserved  to  be  sacked  with- 
out mercy.  Gentle  breezes  wafted  him  along  the 
sea  from  here  to  the  coast  of  Palinurus^  (for  his 
memory  is  preserved  not  only  in  Italian  waters,  and 
Atiica  bears  witness  that  her  peaceful  harbour  found 
favour  with  the  Trojan  steersman).  Then  the  sight 
of  ships  sailing  far  out  at  sea  kept  them  in  suspense  : 
were  thoiie  crews  partners  in  misfortune  or  enemies? 

507 


iM.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

An  veherent  hostes  :  praeceps  facit  omne  timendum 

Victor,  et  in  nulla  non  creditur  esse  carina. 

Ast  illae  puppes  luctus  planctusque  ferebant 

Et  mala  vel  duri  lacrimas  motura  Catonis.  50 

Nam  postquam  frustra  precibus  Cornelia  nautas 
Privignique  fugam  tenuit,  ne  forte  repulsus 
Litoribus  Phariis  remearet  in  aequora  truncus, 
Ostenditque  rogum  non  iusti  flamma  sepulchri, 
"  Ergo  indigna  fui,"  dixit,  "  Fortuna,  marito  65 

Accendisse  rogum  gelidosque  eiFusa  per  artus 
Incubuisse  viro,  laceros  exurere  crines 
Membraque  dispersi  pelago  conponere  Magni^ 
Volneribus  cunctis  largos  infundere  fletus, 
Ossibus  et  tepida  vestes  inplere  favilla,  60 

Quidquid  ab  exstincto  licuisset  tollere  busto 
In  templis  sparsura  deum  ?     Sine  funeris  ullo 
Ardet  honore  rogus ;  manus  hoc  Aegyptia  forsan 
Obtulit  officium  grave  manibus.     O  bene  nudi 
Crassorum  cineres  !     Pompeio  contigit  ignis  66 

Invidia  maiore  deum.     Similisne  malorum 
Sors  mihi  semper  erit?  numquam  dare  iusta  licebit 
Coniugibus  ?  numquam  plenas  plangemus  ad  urnas  ? 
Quid  porro  tumulis  opus  est  aut  ulla  requiris 
Instrumenta,  dolor  ?  non  toto  in  pectore  portas,  70 

Inpia,  Pompeium  }  non  imis  haeret  imago 
Visceribus  ?  quaerat  cineres  victura  superstes. 
Nunc  tamen  hinc  longe  qui  fulget  luce  maligna 
Ignis  adhuc  aliquid  Phario  de  litore  surgens 

508 


BOOK    IX 

The  speed  of  Caesar  makes  everything  dreadful,  and 
they  are  convinced  of  his  presence  on  every  ship 
No,  these  vessels  were  freighted  with  mourning  and 
lamentation,  and  with  a  sorrow  that  might  draw 
tears  even  from  stern  Cato. 

For  after  Cornelia's  prayers  had  fruitlessly  stayed 
the  flight  of  the  sailors  and  her  stepson,  lest  haply 
the  corpse  might  be  driven  out  to  sea  from  the 
Egyptian  shore,  and  when  the  flame  revealed  the 
pyre  of  those  maimed  rites,  then  she  reproached 
Fortune :  "  Unworthy  then  was  I  to  kindle  my 
husband's  pyre,  to  bend  over  the  cold  limbs,  and 
throw  myself  upon  the  body  ;  unworthy  to  burn  my 
torn  tresses,  to  gather  the  limbs  of  Magnus  scattered 
in  the  sea,  to  pour  a  flood  of  tears  into  every 
wound,  and  to  fill  my  bosom  with  the  bones  and 
warm  ashes,  with  the  purpose  of  sprinkling  in  the 
temples  of  the  gods  whatever  I  might  gather  from 
the  extinguished  flame.  The  pyre  burns  on  with  no 
funeral  honours ;  perhaps  some  Egyptian  hand  prof- 
fered this  service  which  the  dead  resents.  Well  is  it 
that  the  remains  of  the  Crassi  lie  unburied  ;  the  fire 
that  was  granted  to  Pompey  shows  greater  spite  on 
the  part  of  Heaven.  Shall  my  sad  lot  ever  repeat 
itself?  Shall  I  never  be  allowed  to  give  due 
burial  to  a  husband?  Shall  I  never  mourn  over  an 
urn  that  contains  ashes?  But  what  need  is  there  of 
a  grave,  or  why  does  grief  require  any  trappings  ? 
Do  I  not,  undutiful  wife,  carry  Pompey  in  my  whole 
breast?  Does  not  his  image  cling  to  my  inmost 
heart  ?  Let  a  wife  who  intends  to  survive  her 
husband  seek  his  ashes.  But  now  this  fire,  which 
shines  far  away  with  scanty  light,  as  it  rises  from 
the   Egyptian  shore,  still   shows  me  some  part   of 

509 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Ostendit  mihi,  Magne,  tui ;  iam  flamma  resedit,  76 

Pompeiumque  ferens  vanescit  solis  ad  ortus 
Fumus,  et  invisi  tendunt  mihi  carbasa  venti. 
Linquere,  si  qua  fides,  Pelusia  litora  nolo.  83 

Non  mihi  nunc  tellus  Pompeio  si  qua  triumphos 
Victa  dedit,  non  alta  terens  Capitolia  currus  80 

Gratior ;  elapsus  felix  de  pectore  Magnus  : 
Hunc  volumus,  queni  Nilus  habet,  terraeque  nocenti 
Non  haerere  queror ;  crimen  commendat  harenas. 
Tu  pete  bellorum  casus  et  signa  per  orbem, 
Sexte,  paterna  move  ;  namque  haec  mandata  reliquit  85 
Pompeius  vobis  in  nostra  condita  cura : 
'  Me  cum  fatalis  leto  damnaverit  hora^ 
Excipite,  o  nati,  bellum  civile,  nee  umqnam, 
Dum  terris  aliquis  nostra  de  stirpe  manebit, 
Caesaribus  regnare  vacet.     Vel  sceptra  vel  urbes  90 

Libertate  sua  validas  inpellite  fama 
Nominis  :  has  vobis  partes,  haec  arma  relinquo. 
Inveniet  classes,  quisquis  Pompeius  in  undas 
Venerit,  et  noster  nullis  non  gentibus  heres 
Bella  dabit :  tantum  indoraitos  memoresque  paterni    96 
luris  habete  animos.     Uni  parere  decebit. 
Si  faciet  partes  pro  libertate,  Catoni.' 
Exsolvi  tibi,  Magne,  fidem,  mandata  peregi. 
Insidiae  valuere  tuae,  deceptaque  vixi, 
Ne  mihi  commissas  auferrem  perfida  voces.  100 

lam  nunc  te  per  inane  chaos,  per  Tartara,  coniunx, 


^  The  triumphal  car  of  Pompey. 

«  She  implies  that  Pompey  gave  her  this  commission  in  order 
to  prevent  her  from  committing  suicide. 

5IO 


BOOK    IX 

you,  Magnus.  The  flame  has  now  died  down,  and 
the  smoke  that  carries  Pompey  away  fades  at  sun- 
rise, and  the  hated  winds  are  stretching  the  sails 
of  my  ship.  With  sorrow  (if  my  words  may  be 
beheved)  1  leave  the  coast  of  Egypt.  More  welcome 
is  it  to  me  than  any  conquered  country  which  pro- 
vided Pompey  with  triumphs,  more  welcome  than 
the  car^  which  rolled  over  the  pavement  of  the 
lofty  Capitol.  The  Magnus  of  prosperous  days  has 
passed  from  my  memoiy ;  the  Magnus  I  require  is 
he  whom  the  Nile  possesses;  and  1  complain  that  I 
may  not  cling  to  the  guilty  land  ;  its  very  guilt 
endears  the  strand  to  me.  1  bid  you,  Sextus,  face 
the  hazards  of  war  and  carry  on  your  father's  war- 
fare over  all  the  world.  For  Pompey  left  this 
message  for  his  sons,  and  it  is  treasured  up  in  my 
memory:  'When  the  destined  hour  shall  have 
condemned  me  to  death,  I  bid  you,  my  sons,  take 
over  civil  war ;  and  never,  while  any  scion  of  my 
stock  remains  on  earth,  let  the  Caesars  reign  in 
peace.  Rouse  up  by  the  glory  of  our  name  either 
kings  or  States  that  are  strong  in  their  own 
freedom ;  I  leave  you  this  part  to  play  and  these 
resources.  A  Pompey  who  takes  to  the  sea  will 
always  find  fleets,  and  my  successor  shall  rouse  all 
nations  to  war ;  only  let  your  hearts  be  ever  tame- 
less and  mindful  of  your  father's  power.  Cato,  and 
Cato  alone,  you  may  fitly  obey,  if  he  shall  rally  a 
party  in  defence  ot  freedom.'  1  have  fulfilled  my 
promise  to  Magnus  and  done  his  bidding ;  his 
device  ^  has  been  successful,  and  thus  deceived  I 
lived  on,  that  1  might  not  break  faith  and  carry  to 
the  grave  the  words  of  his  message.  But  now  I 
will  loUow  my  husband  through  empty  chaos  and 

511 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Si  sunt  ulla^  sequar,  quam  longo  tradita  leto, 
Incertiim  est :  poenas  animae  vivacis  ab  ipsa 
Anteferam.     Potuit  cernens  tua  funera,  Magne, 
Non  fugere  in  mortem  :  planctu  eontusa  peribit,         105 
Effluet  in  lacrimas :  nmnquam  veniemus  ad  enses 
Aut  laqueos  aut  praecipites  per  inania  iactus. 
Turpe  mori  post  te  solo  non  posse  dolore." 
Sic  ubi  fata,  caput  ferali  obduxit  amictu 
Decrevitque  pati  tenebras  puppisque  cavernis  110 

Delituit,  saevumque  arte  conplexa  dolorem 
Perfruitur  lacrimis  et  amat  pro  coniuge  luctum. 
Illam  non  fluctus  stridensque  rudentibus  Eurus 
Movit  et  exsurgens  ad  summa  pericula  clamor, 
Votaque  soUicitis  faciens  contraria  nautis  115 

Conposita  in  mortem  iacuit  favitque  procellis. 

Prima  ratem  Cypros  spumantibus  accipit  undis ; 
Inde  tenens  pelagus,  sed  iam  moderatior,  Eurus 
In  Libycas  egit  sedes  et  castra  Catonis. 
Tristis,  ut  in  multo  mens  est  praesaga  timore,  120 

Aspexit  patrios  comites  a  litore  Magnus 
Et  fratrem  ;  medias  praeceps  tunc  fertur  in  undas : 
"  Die,  ubi  sit,  germane,  parens  ;  stat  summa  caputque 
Orbis,  an  occidimus  Romanaque  Magnus  ad  umbras 
Abstulit  ?  "     Haec  fatur  ;  quem  contra  talia  frater  :  125 
"  O  felix,  quem  sors  alias  dispersit  in  oras 
Quique  nefas  audis  :  oculos,  germane,  nocentes 

*  Gnaeus  the  elder  sou. 
512 


BOOK    IX 

through  Tartarus,  if  such  a  place  there  be.  How 
distant  the  death  to  which  I  am  doomed^  I  know 
not ;  ere  it  comes,  I  shall  punish  my  life  for  lasting 
too  long.  It  had  the  heart  to  see  Magnus  murdered 
and  not  to  take  refuge  in  death ;  it  shall  end, 
bruised  by  blows  from  my  hands ;  it  shall  melt  away 
in  tears ;  never  shall  I  resort  to  the  sword  or  noose 
or  a  headlong  fall  through  the  air;  shame  to  me  it 
I  cannot  die  of  grief  alone,  when  he  is  dead." 
When  she  had  spoken  thus,  she  covered  her  head 
with  a  mourning  veil ;  determined  to  endure  dark- 
ness, she  hid  in  the  hold  of  the  ship,  and,  clasping 
closely  her  cruel  sorrow,  she  makes  tears  her  joy 
and  loves  her  grief  in  place  of  her  husband.  Heed- 
less of  the  waves,  of  the  East  wind  that  howled 
in  the  rigging,  and  of  the  shouting  that  rose  higher 
as  the  danger  grew,  she  lay  in  the  attitude  of 
death  ;  what  the  frightened  sailors  prayed  to  escape, 
she  prayed  to  suffer ;  and  she  took  the  side  of  the 
storms. 

Cyprus  with  its  foaming  waves  first  received  their 
ship  ;  and  then  the  East  wind,  still  ruling  the  sea 
but  with  less  fury,  drove  them  to  the  land  of  Libya 
and  Cato's  camp.  From  the  shore  young  Magnus  ^ 
looked  in  sorrow,  for  the  mind  that  fears  intensely 
forebodes  evil,  at  his  brother  and  the  companions  of 
his  father  ;  then  he  rushed  headlong  right  into  the 
waves.  "  Brother,  say  where  is  our  father.  Is  the 
head  and  crown  of  the  world  still  standing,  or  are 
we  destroyed,  and  has  Magnus  taken  with  him  to 
the  shades  all  that  was  Rome?"  Thus  Gnaeus 
spoke  ;  and  his  brother  answered  him  :  "  Happy  are 
you,  whom  destiny  drove  to  other  lands,  and  who 
only  hear  the  horror  :    my  eyes  are  guilty,  brother, 

5'3 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Spectato  genitore  fero.     Non  Caesaris  armis 
Occubuit  dignoque  perit  auctore  ruinae  : 
Rege  sub  inpuro  Nilotica  rura  tenente, 
Hospitii  fretus  superis  et  munere  tanto 
In  proavos,  cecidit  donati  victima  regni. 
Vidi  ego  magnanimi  lacerantes  pectora  patris, 
Nee  credens  Pharium  tantum  potuisse  tyraniiuni 
Litore  Niliaco  socerum  iam  stare  putavi. 
Sed  me  nee  sanguis  nee  tantum  volnera  nostri 
Adfecere  senis,  quantum  gestata  per  urbem 
Ora  ducis,  quae  transfixo  sublimia  pilo 
Vidimus ;  haec  fama  est  oculis  victoris  iniqui 
Servari,  scelerisque  fidem  quaesisse  tyrannum. 
Nam  corpus  Phariaene  canes  avidaeque  volucres 
Distulerint,  an  furtivus,  quem  vidimus,  ignis 
Solvent,  ignoro.     Quaecumque  iniuria  fati 
Abstulit  hos  artus,  superis  haec  crimina  dono  : 
Servata  de  parte  queror."     Cum  talia  Magnus 
Audisset,  non  in  gemitus  lacrimasque  dolorem 
Effudit,  iustaque  furens  pietate  profatur : 
"  Praecipitate  rates  e  sicco  litore,  nautae  ; 
Classis  in  adversos  erumpat  remige  ventos. 
Ite,  duces,  mecum  (nusquam  civilibus  armis 
Tanta  fuit  merces)  inhumatos  condere  manes. 
Sanguine  semiviri  Magnum  satiare  tyranni. 
Non  ego  Pellaeas  arces  adytisque  retectum 
Corpus  Alexandri  pigra  Mareotide  mergam  ? 

1  See  n.  to  v.  60. 


BOOK    IX 

because  they  looked  on  at  my  father's  death.  He 
did  not  fall  by  Caesar's  arms,  and  no  worthy  hand 
laid  him  low.  In  the  power  of  the  foul  monarch 
who  rules  the  land  of  Nile,  relying  on  the  gods  of 
hospitality  and  on  the  great  boon  he  had  conferred 
upon  the  dynasty,  he  fell,  to  atone  for  having  given 
to  them  the  crown.  These  eyes  saw  them  hacking 
at  the  breast  of  our  noble  father  ;  and,  not  believing 
that  the  king  of  Egypt  had  possessed  such  power  as 
that,  I  supposed  that  Caesar  already  stood  on  the 
shore  of  the  Nile.  But  the  blood  and  wounds  of 
our  aged  sire  moved  me  less  than  the  carrying  of 
his  head  through  the  city  :  I  saw  it  borne  aloft  on  a 
pike  driven  through  it ;  men  said  that  it  was  being 
kept  for  the  cruel  conqueror  to  view,  and  that  the 
king  desired  proof  of  his  crime.  As  to  the  body,  I 
know  not  whether  the  dogs  and  greedy  vultures  of 
Egypt  tore  it  to  pieces,  or  whether  it  was  destroyed 
by  the  surreptitious  fire  that  we  saw.  Whatever 
outrage  of  destiny  made  away  with  those  limbs,  I 
pardon  Heaven  for  that  crime  ;  but  I  complain  of 
the  part  that  was  preserved."  When  young  Magnus 
heard  such  a  tale,  he  did  not  pour  forth  his  grief  in 
groans  or  tears ;  but,  maddened  by  rightful  love  for 
a  father,  he  cried  :  "  Hurry  down  your  ships,  ye 
sailors,  from  the  dry  land  ;  driven  by  the  rowers,  let 
the  fleet  burst  out  in  the  teeth  of  the  wind  :  and 
go  forth  with  me,  ye  leaders — nowhere  was  so  great 
a  prize  offered  to  the  fighters  in  civil  war — to  inter 
the  unburied  body  of  Magnus  and  appease  his  anger 
with  the  blood  of  the  effeminate  king.  Shall  I  not 
drag  forth  the  body  of  Alexander  from  its  shrine  and 
sink  it,  together  with  the  Macedonian  ^  city,  beneath 
the  sluggish  waters  of  Lake  Mareotis .''     Shall  I  not 


M.   ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Non  mihi  pyramidum  tumulis  evolsus  Amasis 
Atque  alii  reges  Nilo  torrente  natabunt? 
Omnia  dent  poenas  nudo  tibi,  Magne,  sepulchra. 
Evolvam  busto  iam  numen  gentibus  Isim 
Et  tectum  lino  spargam  per  volgus  Osirim, 
Suppositisque  deis  uram  caput.     Has  mihi  poenas 
Terra  dabit :  linquam  vacuos  cultoribus  agros. 
Nee,  Nilus  cui  crescat;,  erit,  solusque  tenebis 
Aegypton,  genitor,  populis  superisque  fugatis," 
Dixerat  et  classem  saevus  rapiebat  in  undas ; 
Sed  Cato  laudatam  iuvenis  conpescuit  iram. 

Interea  totis  audito  funere  Magni 
Litoribus  sonuit  percussus  planctibus  aether, 
Exemploque  carens  et  nulli  cognitus  aevo 
Luctus  erat,  mortem  populos  deflere  potentis. 
Sed  magis,  ut  visa  est  lacrimis  exhausta,  solutas 
In  voltus  efFusa  comas,  Cornelia  puppe 
Egrediens,  rursus  geminato  verbere  plangunt. 
Ut  primum  in  sociae  pervenit  litora  terrae, 
Collegit  vestes  miserique  insignia  Magni 
Armaque  et  inpressas  auro,  quas  gesserat  olim, 
Exuvias  pictasque  togas,  velamina  summo 
Ter  conspecta  lovi,  funestoque  intulit  igni. 
Ille  iuit  miserae  Magni  cinis.     Accipit  omnis 
Exemplum  pietas,  et  toto  litore  busta 

^  In  Pompey's  three  triumphs. 

516 


BOOK    IX 

hale  out  Amasis  and  the  other  kings  from  their 
tombs  in  the  Pyramids,  and  send  them  swimming 
down  the  current  of  the  Nile  ?  Let  all  their  tombs 
make  atonement  to  Magnus  who  has  none  at  all.  I 
shall  rifle  the  grave  of  Isis,  now  worshipped  over  the 
world ;  the  limbs  of  Osiris,  swathed  in  linen,  I  shall 
scatter  in  the  public  streets  ;  I  shall  lay  the  gods  as 
fuel  whereon  to  burn  my  father's  head.  And  the 
land  I  shall  punish  too  ;  I  shall  leave  their  fields 
with  none  to  till  them  ;  the  Nile  shall  rise,  and  there 
shall  be  none  to  use  it ;  men  and  gods  shall  be 
expelled  from  Egypt,  and  you,  my  father,  alone  shall 
possess  the  land."  Thus  he  spoke,  and  sought  in  his 
rage  to  launch  the  ships  with  speed ;  but  Cato, 
while  praising  the  youth,  restrained  his  fury. 

Meanwhile,  when  the  death  of  Pompey  was 
reported,  all  along  the  shore  the  sound  of  beaten 
breasts  was  heard,  till  the  sky  rang  with  it ;  un- 
exampled was  that  mourning,  and  unknown  to  any 
age — that  the  common  people  should  lament  the 
death  of  a  great  man.  But  when  Cornelia  was 
seen  disembarking,  having  wept  till  she  could  weep 
no  more,  and  with  her  loosened  hair  falling  down 
over  her  face,  still  more  the  people  renewed  their 
lamentation  with  redoubled  blows.  As  soon  as  she 
reached  the  shore  of  a  friendly  land,  she  gathered 
together  the  garments  and  badges  of  her  hapless 
husband,  his  weapons,  and  the  robes,  embroidered 
with  gold,  which  he  once  had  worn,  and  the  toga  of 
many  colours — the  dress  which  supreme  Jupiter  had 
thrice  beheld  ^ — and  placed  them  all  upon  a  funeral 
fire.  They  were  the  ashes  of  her  husband  to  her 
sad  heart.  Her  example  was  followed  by  all  loving 
hearts  ;  and  pyres  were  raised  all  along  the  shore, 

5A7 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Surgunt  Thessalicis  reddentia  manibus  ignem. 

Sic,  ubi  depastis  summittere  gramina  campis 

Et  renovare  parans  hibernas  Apulus  herbas 

Igne  fovet  terras,  simul  et  Garganus  et  arva 

Volturis  et  calidi  lucent  buceta  Matini.  186 

Non  tamen  ad  Magni  pervenit  gratius  umbras 

Omne  quod  in  superos  audet  convicia  volgus 

Pompeiumque  dels  obicit,  quam  pauca  Catonis 

Verba  sed  a  pleno  venientia  pectore  veri. 

"  Civis  obit,"  inquit  ^'  multum  maioribus  inpar  190 

Nosse  modum  iuris,  sed  in  hoc  tamen  utilis  aevo, 

Cui  non  uUa  fuit  iusti  reverentia ;  sal\  a 

Libertate  potens  et  solus  plebe  parata 

Privatus  servire  sibi  rectorque  senatus, 

Sed  regnantis,  erat.     Nil  belli  iure  poposcit,  195 

Quaeque  dari  voluit,  voluit  sibi  posse  negari 

Inmodicas  possedit  opes,  sed  plura  retentis 

Intulit.     Invasit  ferrum,  sed  ponere  norat. 

Praetulit  arma  togae,  sed  pacem  armatus  amavit ; 

luvit  sumpta  ducem,  iuvit  dimissa  potestas.  200 

Casta  domus  luxuque  carens  corruptaque  numquam 

Fortuna  domini.     Clarum  et  venerabile  nomen 

Gentibus,  et  multum  nostrae  quod  proderat  urbi. 

Olim  vera  fides  Sulla  Marioque  receptis 

Libertatis  obit :  Pompeio  rebus  adempto  206 

518 


BOOK    IX 

and  gave  their  due  of  fire  to  the  men  who  died  at 
Pharsalia.  So,  when  the  ApuUan  burns  the  soil,  in 
order  to  make  grass  grow  on  the  close-cropped 
plains  and  get  fresh  herbage  for  winter,  then  Mount 
Garganus  and  the  fields  of  Vultur  and  the  pastures 
of  warm  Matinussend  forth  light  together.  Though 
all  alike  dared  to  revile  Heaven,  and  blamed  the 
gods  for  Pompey's  death,  yet  a  tribute  as  welcome 
to  the  shade  of  Magnus  came  in  the  words  of  Cato : 
few  th^y  were,  but  they  came  from  a  heart  fraught 
with  truth.  He  said  :  "  The  citizen  who  has  fallen, 
though  far  inferior  to  our  ancestors  in  recognising 
the  limits  of  what  is  lawful,  was  yet  valuable  in  our 
generation,  which  has  shown  no  respect  for  justice. 
He  was  powerful  without  destroying  freedom  ;  he 
alone,  when  the  people  were  willing  to  be  his 
slaves,  remained  in  private  station ;  he  ruled  the 
Senate,  but  it  was  a  Senate  of  kings.  He  based  no 
claims  upon  the  right  of  armed  force ;  what  he 
wished  to  receive,  he  wished  that  others  should  have 
the  power  to  refuse  him.  He  acquired  enormous 
wealth  ;  but  he  paid  into  the  treasury  more  than  he 
kept  back.  He  snatched  the  sword  ;  but  he  knew 
how  to  lay  it  down.  He  preferred  war  to  peace ; 
but  he  was  a  lover  of  peace  even  when  he  wielded 
the  weapons  of  war.  It  pleased  him  to  accept  office, 
and  it  pleased  him  also  to  resign  it.  His  household 
was  pure  and  free  from  extravagance,  and  never 
spoilt  by  the  greatness  of  its  master.  His  name  is 
illustrious  and  revered  among  all  nations,  and  did 
much  service  to  our  own  State.  Sincere  belief  in 
Rome's  freedom  died  long  ago,  when  Sulla  and 
Marius  were  admitted  within  the  walls ;  but  now, 
when   Pompey  has  been  removed  from  the  world, 

519 


M.    ANNAEUS   LUCANUS 

Nunc  et  ficta  perit.     Non  iam  regnare  pudebit. 

Nee  color  imperii  nee  frons  erit  ulla  senatus. 

O  felix,  cui  summa  dies  fuit  obvia  victo 

Et  cui  quaerendos  Pharium  scelus  obtulit  enses . 

Forsitan  in  soceri  potuisses  vivere  regno.  210 

Scire  mori  sors  prima  viris,  sed  proxima  cogi. 

Et  mihi,  si  fatis  aliena  in  iura  venimus, 

Fac  talem,  Fortuna,  lubam ;  non  deprecor  hosti 

Servari,  dum  me  servet  cervice  recisa." 

Vocibus  his  maior,  quam  si  Romana  sonarent  216 

Rostra  ducis  laudes,  generosam  venit  ad  umbram 
Mortis  honos.      Fremit  interea  discordia  volgi, 
Castrorum  bellique  piget  post  funera  Magni ; 
Cum  Tarcondimotus  linquendi  signa  Catonis 
Sustulit.     Hunc  rapta  fugientem  classe  secutus  220 

Litus  in  extremum  tali  Cato  voce  notavit : 
"  O  numquam  pacate  Cilix,  iterumne  rapinas 
Vadis  in  aequoreas  ?     Magnum  fortuna  removit : 
lam  pelago  pirata  redis."     Tum  respicit  omnes 
In  coetu  motuque  viros,  quorum  unus  aperta  225 

Mente  fugae  tali  conpellat  voce  regentem : 
"  Nos,  Cato,  —  da  veniam  —  Pompei  duxit  in  arma, 
Non  belli  civilis  amor,  partesque  favore 
Fecimus.     Ille  iacet,  quem  paci  praetulit  orbis. 


*  color  imperii  means  **a  pretence  of  possessing  military 
authority  legally  conferred "  (Housman). 

*  Macaulay  says  of  this  speech  (190-203):  "a  pure  gem  of 
rhetoric  without  one  flaw  and,  in  my  opinion,  not  very  tar 
from  historical  truth  "  {Life  I,  p.  458). 

3  The  King  of  Cjlicia, 
520 


BOOK    IX 

even  the  sham  belief  is  dead.  No  tyrant  need 
blush  in  future  :  there  will  be  no  pretence  of  military 
command/  and  the  Senate  will  never  again  be  used 
as  a  screen.  Fortunate  was  he,  because  his  last  day 
followed  close  on  defeat,  and  because  the  Egyptian 
butchers  forced  upon  him  the  death  he  should  have 
courted.  He  might  perhaps  have  stooped  to  go  on 
living  under  the  tyranny  of  his  kinsman.  Happiest 
of  all  men  are  those  who  know  when  to  die ;  and 
next  come  those  upon  whom  death  is  forced.  For 
myself,  if  destiny  bring  us  into  the  power  of  others, 
I  pray  that  Fortune  will  make  Juba  play  the  part  of 
Ptolemy  :  I  am  willing  enough  that  he  should  keep 
me  for  Caesar,  on  condition  that  he  keeps  me  with 
my  head  cut  off."  * 

By  these  words  greater  honour  in  death  was 
rendered  to  the  noble  shade  than  if  the  Rostrum 
at  Rome  had  sounded  his  praise.  Meanwhile  the 
soldiery  were  loud  in  mutiny ;  they  were  weary 
of  the  camp  and  warfare  now  that  Pompey  was 
dead  ;  and  then  Tarcondimotus  ^  raised  the  signal  for 
deserting  Cato.  He  snatched  his  ships  for  flight, 
but  Cato  followed  him  to  tlie  edge  of  the  shore,  and 
thus  rebuked  him :  "  Do  you  go  forth  again  to 
practise  robbery  on  the  seas,  you  Cilician  who  have 
never  accepted  peace  ?  Fortune  has  taken  Magnus 
away,  and  at  once  you  return  to  the  sea  as  a  pirate." 
Then  he  looked  at  them  all,  as  they  crowded  to- 
gether in  haste ;  and  one  of  them,  whose  intention 
to  fly  was  clear,  thus  addressed  the  general :  **  Pardon 
us,  Cato.  It  was  love  of  Pompey,  not  of  civil  war, 
that  roused  us  to  arms,  and  we  took  sides  out  of 
favour  for  him.  But  he  lies  low,  whom  the  world 
preferred   to   peace,   and    our    cause   has  ceased  to 


M.   ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Caiisaque  nostra  perit ;  patrios  permitte  penates         230 

Desertamque  domum  dulcesque  revisere  natos. 

Nam  quis  erit  finis,  si  nee  Pharsalia  pugnae, 

Nee  Pompeius  erit?     Perierunt  tempora  vitae: 

Mors  eat  in  tutum,  iustas  sibi  nostra  senectus 

Prospiciat  flammas ;  bellum  civile  sepulehra  235 

Vix  ducibus  praestare  potest.     Non  barbara  victos 

Regna  nianent,  non  Armenium  mihi  saeva  minatur 

Aut  Scythicum  fortuna  iugum :  sub  iura  togati 

Civis  eo.     Quisquis  Magno  vivente  secundus. 

Hie  mihi  primus  erit.     Sacris  praestabitur  umbris       240 

Summus  honor ;  dominum,  quem  clades  cogit,  habebo, 

Nullum,  Magne,  ducem :  te  solum  in  bella  secutus 

Post  te  fata  sequar ;  nee  enim  sperare  secunda 

Fas  mihi  nee  liceat.     Fortuna  cuncta  tenentur 

Caesaris ;  Emathium  sparsit  victoria  ferrum  ;  245 

Clausa  fides  miseris,  et  toto  solus  in  orbe  est. 

Qui  velit  ac  possit  victis  praestare  salutem. 

Pompeio  scelus  est  bellum  civile  perempto, 

Quo  fuerat  vivente  fides.     Si  piiblica  iura, 

Si  semper  sequeris  patriam,  Cato^  signa  petamus,        250 

Romanus  quae  consul  habet."     Sic  ille  profatus 

Insiluit  puppi  iuvenum  comitante  tumultu. 

Actum  Romanis  fuerat  de  rebus,  et  omnis 
Indlga  servitii  fervebat  litore  plebes : 
Erupere  ducis  sacro  de  pectore  voces :  265 

"  Ergo  pari  voto  gessisti  bella,  iuventus, 

^  The  allusion  is  to  Pompey. 

•  This  cannot  refer  to  Caesar  himself,    who  was   not    now 
wearing  the  toga. 

^  Caesar  was  one  of  the  two  consuls  then  in  oflSce. 

522 


BOOK   IX 

exist;  suffer  us  to  return  to  our  native  homes,  our 
deserted  households  and  the  children  of  our  love. 
For  what  end  will  there  ever  be  of  fighting,  if 
neither  Pharsalia  nor  the  death  of  Pompey  ends  it? 
Our  lifetime  has  been  wasted ;  let  our  last  days  find 
a  refuge  ;  let  our  old  age  look  forward  to  due  funeral 
rites ;  civil  war  can  hardly  provide  graves  even  for 
leaders.^  We  are  defeated,  but  no  foreign  rule 
awaits  us  ;  cruel  Fortune  does  not  threaten  me  with 
oppression  from  Armenian  or  Scythian  ;  I  pass  into 
the  power  of  Roman  citizens.^  Whoever  was 
second  to  Magnus  while  Magnus  lived,  shall  now 
rank  first  with  me.  But  high  honour  shall  I  pay  to 
the  sacred  dead :  though  I  shall  acknowledge  the 
master  whom  defeat  forces  upon  me,  1  shall  acknow- 
ledge no  leader  but  Magnus.  Him  alone  I  followed 
to  war ;  now  he  is  dead,  I  shall  follow  destiny ;  for  I 
may  not  hope  for  good  fortune,  nor  would  it  be 
permitted.  All  things  are  hemmed  in  by  Caesar's 
greatness ;  his  victory  has  scattered  the  army  of 
Pharsalia ;  the  hopes  of  the  unfortunate  have  shrunk 
to  little  compass,  and  he  alone  in  the  world  has  the 
will  and  the  power  to  grant  their  lives  to  the 
vanquished.  Civil  war,  which  was  loyalty  while 
Pompey  lived,  is  criminal  now  that  he  is  slain.  If 
you,  Cato,  are  always  a  faithful  follower  of  national 
law  and  your  country's  cause,  then  let  us  seek  the 
standards  which  the  Roman  consul  ^  bears."  With 
these  words  he  sprang  on  board,  and  his  soldiers  in 
disorder  went  with  him. 

The  cause  of  Rome  was  as  good  as  lost,  and  all  the 
rabble,  at  a  loss  for  want  of  a  master,  swarmed  upon 
the  shore.  But  utterance  came  with  a  rush  from 
the  sacred  breast  of  Cato  :  "  It  seems  then,  soldiers, 

523 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Tu  quoque  pro  dominis^  et  Pompeiana  fuisti, 

Non  Romana  manus  ?  quod  non  in  regna  laboras, 

Quod  tibi,  non  ducibus,  vivis  morerisque,  quod  orbem 

Adquiris  nulli,  quod  iam  tibi  vincere  tutura  est,  260 

Bella  fugis  quaerisque  iugum  cervice  vacanti 

Et  nescis  sine  rege  pati.     Nunc  causa  pericli 

Digna  viris.      Potuit  vestro  Pompeius  abuti 

Sanguine  :  nunc  patriae  iugulos  ensesque  negatis. 

Cum  prope  libertas  ?     Unum  fortuna  reliquit  265 

lam  tribus  e  dominis.     Pudeat :  plus  regia  Nili 

Contulit  in  leges  et  Parthi  militis  arcus. 

Ite,  o  degeneres,  Ptolemaei  munus  et  arma 

Spernite.     Quis  vestr.is  ulla  putet  esse  nocentes 

Caede  manus  ?  credet  faciles  sibi  terga  dedisse,  270 

Credet  ab  Emathiis  primos  fugisse  Philippis. 

Vadite  securi ;  meruistis  iudice  vitam 

Caesare  non  armis^  non  obsidione  subacti. 

O  famuli  turpes,  domini  post  fata  prioris 

Itis  ad  heredem.     Cur  non  maiora  mereri  275 

Quam  vitam  veniamque  libet  ?  rapiatur  in  undas 

Infelix  coniunx  Magni  prolesque  Metelli, 

Ducite  Pompeios,  Ptolemaei  vincite  munus. 

Nostra  quoque  inviso  quisquis  feret  ora  tyranno, 

Non  parva  mercede  dabit :  sciet  ista  iuventus  280 


^  The  triumvirs  :  see  n.  to  i.  4. 

*  Ptolemy  relieved  you  of   Pompey,  and   the   Parthians  of 
Crassus  ;  your  own  swords  can  rid  you  of  Caesar. 
'  I.e.  Pharsalia. 

524 


BOOK    IX 

that  j'^oii  too  foui^ht  with  the  same  desire  as  others, 
in  defence  of  tyranny — that  you  were  the  troops  of 
Pompey,  and  not  of  Rome.  You  no  longer  suffer  in 
order  to  set  up  a  tyrant ;  your  life  and  death  belong 
)l  to  yourselves,  not  to  your  leaders  ;  there  is  no  one 
for  whom  you  gain  the  whole  world,  and  now  you 
may  safely  conquer  for  yourselves  alone.  Yet  now 
you  desert  the  ranks  ;  you  miss  the  yoke  when  your 
neck  is  relieved,  and  you  cannot  endure  existence 
without  a  tyrant.  But  you  have  now  a  quarrel 
worthy  of  brave  men.  Pompey  was  suffered  to 
make  full  use  of  your  life-blood  :  now,  wlien  freedom 
is  in  sight,  do  you  refuse  to  fight  and  die  for  your 
country  ?  Out  of  three  masters  ^  Fortune  has 
spared  but  one.  Shame  on  you !  The  court  of 
Egypt  and  the  bow  of  the  Parthian  soldier  have  done 
more  for  the  cause  of  lawful  government.  Depart, 
degenerate  men,  neglectful  alike  of  Ptolemy's  gift 
and  your  own  weapons. ^  Who  would  suppose  that 
your  hands  were  ever  stained  with  bloodshed  ^ 
Caesar  will  take  your  word  for  it  that  you  were 
quick  to  turn  your  backs  to  him,  and  first  in  the 
flight  from  Philippi  ^  in  Thessaly.  Go  and  fear  not : 
if  Caesar  be  your  judge,  you,  who  were  not  subdued 
by  battle  or  siege,  have  deserved  to  have  your  lives 
spared.  Base  slaves  I  your  former  master  is  dead, 
and  you  welcome  his  heir.  Why  do  you  not  seek 
to  earn  a  greater  reward  than  mere  life  and  pardon  ? 
Seize  the  hapless  wife  of  Magnus  and  daughter  of 
Metellus,  and  carry  her  over  the  sea  ;  lead  captive 
the  sons  of  Pompey ;  and  so  outdo  the  gift  of 
Ptolemy,  Also,  whoever  bears  my  head  to  the  hated 
tyrant  will  receive  no  small  reward  for  his  gift.  By 
the  price  of  my  head  your  troops  will  learn  that  they 

525 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Cervicis  pretio  bene  se  mea  signa  sccutam. 

Quin  agite  et  magna  meritum  cum  caede  parate ; 

Ignavum  scelus  est  tantiim  fuga."     Dixit  et  omiies 

Haud  aliter  medio  revocavit  ab  aequore  puppes, 

Quam,  simul  eff'etas  linquimt  examina  ceras  285 

Atque  oblita  favi  non  miscent  nexibus  alas, 

Sed  sibi  quaeque  volat  nee  lam  degustat  amarum 

Desidiosa  thymum,  Phrygii  sonus  increpat  aeris, 

Attonitae  posuere  fugam  studiumque  laboris 

Floriferi  repetunt  et  sparsi  niellis  amorem;  290 

Gaudet  in  Hyblaeo  securus  gramine  pastor 

Divitias  servasse  casae.     Sic  voce  Catonis 

Inculcata  viris  iusti  patientia  Martis. 

lamque  actu  belli  non  doctas  ferre  quietem 
Constituit  mentes  serieque  agitare  laborum.  295 

Primum  litoreis  miles  lassatur  harenis. 
Proximus  in  muros  et  moenia  Cyrenarum 
Est  labor;  exclusus  nulla  se  vindicat  ira, 
Poenaque  de  victis  sola  est  vicisse  Catoni. 
Inde  peti  placuit  Libyci  contermina  Mauris  300 

Regna  lubae,  sed  iter  mediis  natura  vetabat 
Syrtibus :  banc  audax  sperat  sibi  cedere  virtus. 

Syrtes  vel  primam  mundo  natura  figuram 
Cum  daret,  in  dubio  pelagi  terraeque  reliquit 
(Nam  neque  subsedit  penitus,  quo  stagna  profundi     305 
Acciperet,  nee  se  defendit  ab  aequore  tellus, 
Ambigua  sed  lege  loci  iacet  invia  sedes, 


1  Cymbals  were  used  in  the  worship  of  the  Phrygian  goddess, 
Cybele,  or  the  Great  Mother. 

*  The  Syrtes,  of  which  Lucan  makes  so  much,  seem  to  have 
lost  their  ancient  terrors.  They  are  two  rocky  gulfs,  now  called 
Sidra  and  Gab^s,  on  the  north  coast  of  Africa,  between  Gyrene 
and  Carthage. 

526 


BOOK   IX 

did  well  to  follow  my  standard.  Rouse  up  therefore, 
commit  a  mighty  crime,  and  gain  your  reward. 
Mere  flight  is  the  crime  of  cowards."  By  this  speech 
he  recalled  all  the  ships  from  mid-sea.  Even  so, 
when  the  swarm  deserts  the  cells  that  have  hatched 
their  young,  they  forget  the  comb ;  their  wings  are 
no  longer  intertwined,  but  each  bee  flies  indepen- 
dently and  plays  truant,  ceasing  to  suck  the  bitter 
thyme  ;  but,  if  the  sound  of  Phrygian  brass  ^  rebukes 
them,  at  once  in  alarm  they  stop  their  flight  and  go 
back  to  their  task  of  bearing  pollen,  and  renew 
their  love  of  scattered  honey  ;  the  shepherd  on  the 
meadow  of  Hybla  is  relieved,  and  rejoices  that  the 
wealth  of  his  cottage  is  safe.  Thus  by  Cato's  words 
the  resolution  to  endure  lawful  warfare  was  impressed 
upon  his  men. 

And  now  by  works  of  war  and  continuous  tasks  he 
resolved  to  keep  busy  men  who  knew  not  how  to 
remain  inactive.  First  the  soldiers  toiled  till  they 
were  weary,  digging  the  sand  upon  the  shore ;  their 
next  task  was  against  the  walls  and  fortifications  of 
Cyrene ;  when  shut  out  from  there,  Cato  took  no 
harsh  revenge — the  only  penalty  he  exacted  from 
the  conquered  was  to  have  conquered  them.  Next 
it  was  resolved  to  seek  the  realm  of  Libyan  Juba 
that  borders  on  the  Moors ;  and,  though  Nature 
barred  their  way  by  placing  the  Syrtes  ^  between, 
daring  valour  hoped  to  defeat  Nature. 

When  Nature  first  gave  shape  to  the  world,  either 
she  left  the  Syrtes  to  be  disputed  by  sea  and  land 
alike  ;  for  the  land  did  not  sink  down  deep,  so  as  to 
admit  the  water  of  the  ocean,  nor  yet  defend  itself 
against  the  sea,  but  the  region  lies  untravelled, 
owing    to    the   uncertain    conditions    that    prevail 

527 


M.    ANNAEUS    LUCANUS 

Aeqnora  fracta  vadis  abruptaque  terra  profundo, 
Et  post  inulta  sonant  proiecti  litora  fluctus: 
Sic  male  deseruit  nullosque  exegit  in  usus 
Hanc  partem  natura  sui) ;  vel  plenior  alto 
Glim  Syrtis  erat  pelago  penitusque  natabat, 
Sed  rapidus  Titan  ponto  sua  luniina  pascens 
Aequora  subduxit  zonae  vicina  perustae ; 
Et  nunc  pontus  adhuc  Phoebo  siccante  repugnat, 
Mox,  ubi  damnosum  radios  admoverit  aevum, 
Tellus  Syrtis  erit ;  nam  iam  brevis  unda  superne 
Innatatj  et  late  periturum  deficit  aequor. 

Ut  primum  remis  actum  mare  propulit  omne 
Classis  onus,  densis  fremuit  niger  imbribus  Auster. 
In  sua  regna  furens  temptatum  classibus  aequor 
Turbine  defendit  longeque  a  Syrtibus  undas 
Egit  et  inlato  con f regit  litore  pontum. 
Tum,  quarum  recto  deprendit  carbasa  malo, 
Eripuit  nautis,  frustraque  rudentibus  ausis 
Vela  negare  Noto  spatium  vicere  carinae, 
Atque  ultra  proram  tumuit  sinus.     Omnia  si  quis 
Providus  antemnae  suffixit  lintea  summae, 
Vincitur  et  nudis  averritur  armamentis. 
Sors  melior  classi,  quae  fluctibus  incidit  altis 
Et  certo  iactata  mari.     Quaecumque  levatae 
Arboribus  caesis  flatum  effudere  prementem, 
Abstulit  has  liber  ventis  contraria  volvens 


1  The  South. 

*  Whereas  the  Syrtis  was  neither  land  nor  sea. 
528 


BOOK   IX 

there — sea  broken  by  shoals,  and  dry  land  severed 
by  sea — and  the  waves  strike  beach  after  beach 
before  they  collapse  with  a  roar.  So  unkindly 
has  Nature  deserted  this  part  of  herself,  and 
demands  no  service  of  it.  Or  else,  the  Syrtis  was 
once  more  richly  supplied  with  deep  sea,  and  lay 
far  below  the  surface ;  but  the  parching  sun, 
feeding  his  light  with  ocean,  sucked  up  the  water, 
which  is  near  the  torrid  zone  ;  and  thus,  though  now 
the  sea  still  resists  the  drying  action  of  the  sun, 
ere  long,  when  injurious  time  brings  his  heat  close, 
the  Syrtis  will  become  dry  land  ;  for  already  the 
waves  that  cover  it  are  shallow,  and  the  water,  soon 
to  disappear,  is  everywhere  scantily  supplied. 

As  soon  as  the  sea,  driven  by  the  oars,  bore  on- 
ward all  the  heavy  fleet,  a  black  South  wind  roared 
with  incessant  rain.  Raging  against  its